The Volcanic Heresy
by evtrax
Summary: This is an alternate heresy like the the roboutian heresy or the The Sanguinary Heresy, but Vulkan is the archtraitor. Rated T to be safe, and if there are any grammatical or spelling errors please forgive me, or point them out and ask me to fix them
1. Volcanic Heresy Introduction

the volcanic heresy

Pre-Heresy: the cracks begin to form

In the glorious 31st millennium the Emperor of Mankind launched his Imperium's Great Crusade to reclaim the galaxy for mankind. At the head of his forces were the mighty Space Marine Legions, 18 mighty armies composed of transhumans, each one the equal of the heroes of old, marched and were led by a demigod son of the Emperor himself. Behind them was the Imperial army, the numberless hordes of men and women dedicated to the ideals of the Emperor. The mechanical might of Mars, with the great god machines known as Titans striding in legions. And in the shadows were the Assassin Temples, who did the dirty work that heroes like the Emperor could not do, a thankless job that needed to be done. The worlds of humanity were recovered, either embracing their lost heritage or being forced into compliance. Even certain Xenos were allied with the Imperium, be they absorbed like the Squats or the Ratlings, or be separate allies like the eldar who raised the Primarch Lorgar. The Light of the Astronomicon proclaimed to the galaxy that the Long Night was over, and a new golden age had come.

The peak of the Great Crusade was undoubtedly the Ullanor compliance, where the Emperor himself broke the power of the greatest ork empire left in the galaxy. At the end of the campaign, with Ullanor turned into a trophy world by the victorious Imperium, the Emperor announced he would be leaving the Great Crusade in the hands of Horus, the first found and the now Warmaster of the Imperium. The Emperor took Magnus with him to help on the project and made Perturabo the Praetorian of Terra. It was here that the cracks that would leave the Imperium, the Emperor and his hopes and dreams in ruins, began to form.

Sanguinius, the angel of Baal, and his legion the Blood Angels worshiped the Emperor as a god, despite the Emperors outright ban on worship of anything, having declared there are no gods (to those who knew the truth of the warp and the war in heaven know that what he left unsaid, that there are god like entity's but to worship them is foolish). on the world of Ecclesia, the blood angels had begun to openly worship the Emperor. Upon hearing of this, the Emperor ordered the Sons of Horus (the newly renamed legion of Horus) and his most trusted confidant Malcador the Sigilite to burn this world and humble the blood angels. While doing this broke Horus's hearts to hurt his brother so he did it. This would set the blood angels on the path of chaos, first fighting the Nephilim and then going on the pilgrimage, thus becoming the first legion to fall to chaos.

Then the issue of psykers came to a head, many Primarchs distrusting all things of the warp and they called for the sanction of the Thousand Sons, the legion of Magnus. They believed that the sorcery of this psyker legion would re-ignite the age of strife. On the world of Nikea the Iron Warriors, gene sons of Perturabo, made a mighty colosseum and the Council of Nikea began. Mortarion, Primarch of the Death Guard, began with his legitimate concerns about psykers. He was quickly drowned out by the others who distrusted psykers. Unlike Mortarion, they were merely savages whose hatred of "witches" is the result of their backwards upbringings. The worst of them was Leman Russ, Primarch of the Space Wolves, whose hatred of psykers was hypocritical in nature. He called Magnus and his sons wielders of maleficarum, and the only evidence he presented was the evidence given to him by his rune priests, themselves psykers. The only thing Leman accomplished in the council was aiding Magnus's cause by managing to paint those against psykers as backwards hypocrites. Magnus calmly and expertly explained his proposed Librarius program, which not only addressed Mortarion's concerns, but appeased everyone.

Everyone except Russ, that is. He howled threats, accusations of the Emperors mind being poisoned, and stormed off in a huff. It was soon after the Council of Nikea that the Thousand Sons were afflicted with the flesh change. This had always been a threat to them, but the being behind it, the chaos god Tzeench, had realized Magnus would not fall and decided to take his anger out on the legion. Magnus assembled a cabal of his most powerful psyker sons, and the leader of the cabal, a Terran recruit known as Ahriman, proposed a desperate ritual. Magnus, devastated at the sight of so many of his sons becoming mewling mutants that were chaos spawn in all but name, agreed. Thus was performed the Rubric of Ahriman, and 9/10ths of the Thousand Sons became nothing but dust in armor. The Rubric succeeded, but created the rubric marines, automatons made from the souls of those who couldn't become psykers. At the sight of this perceived failure Magnus wept, and the Emperor himself went to Prospero, comforting Magnus and revealing to him the truth of the chaos gods. The Rubric was the best way to go, and while Magnus still felt guilty he came back to Terra.

What truly kickstarted the end of the new golden age, and the beginning of a dark age the likes of which the galaxy has never seen, was the meeting between the Sons of Horus and a civilization known as the Interex. During the peace negotiations Warmaster Horus was stabbed with a Daemon Weapon and sent into a coma. The Mournival that was the second in command of Horus prepared to go to war with the Interex, and only the quick thinking of the Word Bearer Chaplain known as Erebus prevented a horrible slaughter.

* * *

Abbadon looked at Erebus with disbelief, "What are you saying?" Erebus nodded, "I know it is difficult to believe, but I speak the truth." Abbadon started to laugh mockingly, "You mean to say that the concept of disorder has lain our father low." Erebus merely nodded, "Call it what you like, Chaos, Kaos, The Ruinous Powers, Reality Tumors, The Primordial Annihilator, the Dark Gods, it all means the same thing. They are the debris of the War in Heaven, powered by the emotions of sentient life and made hostile to everything that is good. My legion has known of it for some time, but by the decree of the Emperor himself we have kept it hidden." Erebus patted his copy of the Book of Lorgar.

Abbadon knew the Word Bearers had some strange beliefs, worshiping the gods of the eldar and such. But he also knew that the Word Bearers were completely loyal to the Imperium, unlike the eldar who were divided, with the dark eldar and the militaristic craftworlds and those enigmatic Ynnari. Horus Aximand, little Horus, spoke up, "It doesn't matter what afflicts our father. What matters is, can you save him?" Erebus nodded saying, "Yes I can, but it won't be easy. And I will need your help."

* * *

Horus was healed by an ancient ritual, nicknamed the ritual of chüd by Lorgar, and set off to terra to interrogate his father as to why he kept such important information from him. Magnus revealed what the Emperor had told him after the disastrous Rubric. The Emperors plan was to starve the chaos gods and then free humanity from the Warp via the Webway. Without the worship and constant interaction with the Warp the chaos gods would become so weak that the Astronomicons power would cleanse the warp of the reality tumors once and for all.

then, the unthinkable happened, Vulkan had turned traitor.

The Heresy: catastrophes abound

Those who defend the Imperium, such as the inquisitors, the space marines and the eldar farseers, know the myriad dangers besieging the Imperium. In fact, many times the mere knowledge of the enemy is corruptive. To save them from this tainted knowledge, they typically ponder the what ifs. What if history happened a different way. As such, they also gain an insight into enemies. For example, among the higher ups of the inquisition believe that Horus was the original target for the chosen of chaos. It makes perfect sense, after all Horus is a great general and a cunning ally. His position as the Warmaster made him perfectly positioned to cause a schism. It was only the quick thinking of Erebus and the strength of the Mournival that saved him. Of the Primarchs it seems Vulkan is the least likely to be the arch traitor. With the information provided by the Ordo Universium, the inquisitor order dedicated to the study of alternate universes and timelines, it becomes less and less believable that Vulkan, the kindest of all Primarchs, would cause the heresy.

* * *

"Oh Vulkan, the kindest amongst us, you who always took care of the common people. How like the chaos gods to turn your kindness into the fall of our father dream."

attributed to Horus

* * *

The truth of Vulkan's fall comes from a secret in plain sight, yet known only to the Primarchs, to Malcador, and to the Emperor himself. There weren't 18 legions of space marines, there were 20. The second and eleventh legions, the lost and the forgotten. Both committed crimes so horrible that the Space Wolves, the Emperors Executioners, purged them all. Their names, there deeds, everything about them was gone. Only two empty plinths in the Hegemon and two gaps in the legion's enumeration were left behind. Things that could be attributed to human error.

But there were two legions. There crimes were so horrible that even the traitor Primarchs, who have spat upon everything they swore upon, do not speak of these two. Even after the heresy, when the traitor legions were condemned with the Edict of Obliteration, the same edict upon the lost legions, there was still knowledge of the traitors. The common people knew of the so called nine sons of darkness who fought the Emperors nine sons, and the stars were watched fearfully. The Imperial Creed preach that only the God Emperor protected humanity from the hostile Xenos and from the bands of Daemons that raided worlds, taking children to make more of their own. But not even the highest of the inquisition knows or even thinks about the second and eleventh legions.

Vulkan felt extremely guilty about what happened to his brothers despite their horrible crimes. In addition, the constant forced compliances of worlds who only sought to keep their ways and independence started to wear him down. When Horus was saved the chaos gods turned to Vulkan. On a world fallen to chaos undivided they visited Vulkan and showed him visions of what had passed, and what was to come.

* * *

Vulkan looked at the four beings skeptically. He then asked them, "What proof do you have that the Emperor is evil. Yes, he condemned two of my brothers to death, but their crimes were so horrible that only their complete annihilation could absolve them. And yes, he has ordered compliance on many worlds, but his way is the best. I have seen the horrors of the Age of Strife and I know he is right. He is a good man, willing to do what is necessary, even if it is distasteful."

The vision showed Terra, and the pink hermaphroditic figure purred in her seductive voice, "Do you know of the Battle of Mount Ararat?" Vulkan nodded, "Yes, it was the final battle of the Unification Wars, where the Thunder Warriors heroically sacrificed themselves to achieve the Emperors goals." The fat green one gurgled out one word, "No." Vulkan was confused and it continued, "The Thunder Warriors were flawed creations, doomed to madness and sickness. Many times their bodies were opened after death to find nothing but a mass of tumors." The red one who seemed eternally angry said, "The Battle of Mount Ararat wasn't a battle, it was a slaughter!"

Vulkan saw the last of the Thunder Warriors and saw the forces who would cull the ones who fought to unite Terra. Several hundred Custodes, the brave gene-enhanced men and women who were the companions of the Emperor, and several thousand Proto-Astartes, bearing the gene seed of every legion. It was truly a massacre; the Thunder Warriors never stood a chance. Vulkan wanted to close his eyes, to turn away and cover his ears, but he couldn't.

Then the blue one said, "Now we shall show you what will happen should nothing be done." Suddenly the scene became one of horror, as Vulkan was shown the 41st millennium. He saw a grim and dark future, where there was only war. He saw as ignorance replaced knowledge and hate became a virtue. He saw thousands of people die in a petty war for a few feet of useless ground on a planet no one wanted. He saw entire worlds destroyed for the actions of one or a few individuals. He saw as innovation became considered heresy, and superstition and rote replaced knowledge. He saw wars on terra break out over places in line, suppressed by the Custodes or by cruel peacekeepers. He saw a bureaucracy so vast and inefficient that entire planets could be lost due to a filing error, and armies or supplies that were sent to worlds that had long ago fallen. He saw the people of Terra fear the space marines, and the imperium worship nine of his brothers as gods, while the other 9, including himself, were nowhere to be found. He saw the Imperial Palace as a hunched decayed thing, its beauty still there but twisted into a thing of war. He saw as every day one thousand psykers, men women and children, were sacrificed to his father. But worst of all was that his father was worshiped as a god, and that worship was the only thing truly keeping the Imperium together.

He started to weep at what he saw and turned to the four. "What can I do to prevent this?" he asked. And thus Vulkan fell.

* * *

Vulkan and his legion, alongside the iron hands and the raven guard, declared themselves free of the Emperor and his cruelty. Horus was too far from the Istvaan system to aid the attack, which spared his legion, but he used his authority as the Warmaster to call every available legion to bring the rebels to heel.

After the message came more horrible news, the Space Wolves had destroyed Prospero. The survivors arrived at the Imperial palace, telling of how Leman Russ declared Prospero and the Thousand Sons witches, defying the Emperor ban against sorcery by using the Rubric, unaware or uncaring that the Emperor forgave Magnus and his legion for its usage. They attacked and burned so much, then the Space Wolves started to turn into creatures that were best described as werewolves. Russ had cried to the skies for his son's salvation, and he was answered. They became diseased things and had caused Prospero to rot from the inside out. It is said that when Magnus heard this news he didn't cry, having shed all his tears in the aftermath of the Rubric. Instead he swore an oath of moment, swearing that he would have his vengeance upon Leman Russ. It wouldn't matter if it took 10,000 years or longer, but Russ and his dogs would pay for their crimes.

Then came Perturabo and his Iron Warriors, revealing that his home world Olympia had been attacked by the Gedehams, a xenos species believed annihilated by Rogal Dorn and his legion. The fleets the xenos used were comprised not only of their horrible hive ships but also of Imperial fist ships. Perturabo believed that the Gedehams claims that these ships were gifted to them by Rogal to be nothing more than the lies of hostile xenos attempting to spread dissent. But the revelation of the betrayals of both Vulkan and Russ changed his tune. Horus realized that the loyalist legions were being led into a trap, but by then it was too late.

Seven legions assembled at Istvaan, first to arrive being the Emperors Children led by their Primarch Fulgrim, having come in full force. Then came the Death Guard led by Mortarion, again having the full legion with him. Then came the Dark Angels, led by Lion El'Jonson, fresh from there campaign in the ghoul stars. Marius Gage came next, leading a chapter of Ultramarines, saying that Roboute was currently attacking a world that needed destroying, but sent what help he could. Then came the Alpha legion, led by Alpharius; only a 4th of the legion came, and Alpharius revealed the rest were dealing with something that couldn't be delayed, but he left his forces in the hands of a commander he trusted above all others and he came with what forces he could spare. Then came the Blood Angels, led by Sanguinius. Where they were once the pinnacle of space marines and Sanguinius had become one of the least popular Primarchs (possibly the least popular) his forces were welcomed. Lastly came the White Scars, led by Jagatai Khan. His full legion had come from the Chondax system.

The first wave was comprised of the Emperors Children (Fulgrim was enraged by Ferrus's betrayal), the Death Guard and the Alpha Legion. The second wave was to be comprised of the others. Upon Isstvan 5 the sight of the horrible mockeries their brothers and their legions made the Primarchs sick.

The Salamanders were horrible visions of devils, any kindness within them replace with pitiless hate. The sigils of the ruinous powers bedecked their armor, and the fire that once cleansed the worlds of filth were now the fires of hell.

There were few Iron Hands, but they more than made up for their lack of Astartes with what accompanied them. The sons of Ferrus Manus were accompanied by AI's and gene forged things, each of the Iron Hands commanded an army of the very things the Great Crusade had set out to destroy.

The Raven Guard were the worst. Much like the Iron Hands there were few true Astartes, but instead of the creatures of the Long Night there were horrible mutants that were once Astartes. The Raven Guard had unnatural hordes of Chaos Spawn at the command of the Nobles, those Astartes who mastered the twin gifts of Slannesh: pleasure and pain.

The three loyalist legions were in a tight spot, and when they believed reinforcements had come they were betrayed.

* * *

Omegon ran from the flailing tendrils of what had once been Astartes, but the sight of his nephews devolved into these things wasn't what made him sick. No, it was the fact that they moaned in pleasure and pain, that those two opposite sensations mixed in these twisted things. If Alpharius was here it would be so much easier. Hell, he'd have the whole legion backing him up. But he had said something about Cabal, and that was that. The Cabal was a threat so big, well their goal was humanity's utter destruction. Even three traitor legions paled in comparison, but Horus's order was clear. Omegon often pretended to be his twin, and he took as many legionaries as could be spared.

Omegon found safety behind a rock, and his anger was riled by the sight of the Ultramarines just standing there.

"This is Alpharius of the Alpha Legion! I command you, open fire on the Raven Guard!"

The Ultramarines did nothing, Omegon got even angrier.

"Help us you damn pompous cowardly smurfs! I..."

The rest of the angry rant died in his mouth as the Ultramarines did open fire, but not on the Raven Guard, but on his own sons.

* * *

The drop site massacre broke three legions, and Fulgrim was beheaded by Ferrus, using the very weapon Fulgrim forged for him. Mortarion and Alpharius escaped alongside there legions and the Emperor's Children, led by Lucius the eternal, whose bravery and cool head prevented the legion from splintering after Fulgrim's death. The blow to the Imperium was hard, with the legions loyal to the throne splitting up. Alpharius and the Alpha legion meet up with Konrad and the Night Lords, and they begin a war against Vulkan and his forces. There were many human worlds who were loyal to Vulkan, remembering the kindness of him and his legion. However, the newfound cruelty of Vulkan and his legion made many reconsider. Meanwhile the Death Guard and the White Scars engaged in a chase across the galaxy. As for the Emperor's Children, there chief apothecary Fabius Bile had been corrupted by chaos during the Laer campaign and led half of the legion into chaos with him. For the duration of the heresy, the Emperors children were engaged in their own civil war, the heresy in miniature.

Soon after the drop site massacre was the second most horrible event of the entire heresy, with only the death of the Emperor surpassing it. Rogal Dorn and his Imperial Fists attacked the Meretara Cluster, a might set of Iron Warrior established worlds, who willing accepted the Imperium's rule after being freed from the Black Judges by Perturabo and his sons. This in itself wasn't particularly noteworthy, the traitorous Imperial Fists preferring and still prefer to attack the Iron Warriors. What was special was the hand guiding Rogal. He had been consumed by jealousy of Perturabo and his sons for getting what he believed should have been his honor, the privilege of fortifying Terra. Before the drop site massacre he was approached by the Specter King Kor Phareon, who promised a way to ruin Perturabo's greatest accomplishment. Thus Rogal and his legion attacked the cluster in the form of a ritual, and at the end the ritual activated. The force of the magic blast shattered the wards the Emperor had set up around the Webway, allowing the daemon hordes to pour in. Thus started the War in the Webway, and the death of the Emperors greatest dream. This and the heresy did ruin Perturabo's greatest accomplishment, as he was forced to destroy the beauty of the Imperial palace to make sure it endured. This kept the Emperor, his Custodes, the Sisters of Silence, Magnus, the rubric marines, and the Harlequins from aiding the loyalists, too busy making sure that the hordes of Daemons didn't engulf Holy Terra.

On Mars the situation was no better. The Fabricator-General Kelbor-Hal remained loyal, his friendship with Horus ensuring that, but sadly Archmagos Dominus Belisarius Cawl did not. Cawl was a tech priest who always bordered on tech-heresy, his devotion to innovation skirting the Emperor's decrees. His friendship with Roboute was what sealed the deal. He declared the Emperor a false Omnissiah and created the Dark Mechanicus, trapping the loyalist tech priests on Olympus Mons. One of the Triarchs of the Trident and an army of Iron Warriors were sent to liberate Mars, and while the public believes they succeeded those who know of the Iron Lie realize that myriad technological hells lurk beneath Mars.

Meanwhile the Craftworlds were about to rush to the aid of their human allies, only for a Schism to strike them as well. The Ynnari, worshipers of the theoretical whispering god Ynnead, led half of the Craftworlds against the Imperium. The reasons for the traitors varied, maybe they longed for the days of the Eldar Empire, or maybe they still thought of humans as like the ancient Mon-Keigh who cannibalized entire races. Whatever the reason they declared themselves a New Eldar Empire, dedicated to destroying the humans and those foolish kindred who allied them with the savages. The loyal Craftworlds, led by Eldrad Ulthran, became the Ulthwe alliance. For the entire heresy they were tied up in a war throughout the entire eldar race, with the dark eldar pillaging and attacking both sides.

* * *

Ynnead, the lords of order, godly morality, and the end prophesy

The god Ynnead is not a eldar god, not truly. In fact, Ynnead isn't even a god yet. The prophesy of the now accursed Mystic Kysaduras the Anchorite once gave the eldar hope. Now they curse this damn fool, knowing that Ynnead is merely a repeat of the Slannesh incident waiting to happen. Indeed, Ynnead is a theoretical concept (as much as anything involving the Warp can be called theoretical) known as a lord of order.

the lords of order, given the name, might sound like enemies of the gods of chaos. But they are just as big a threat, as befits the origin of what can be called warp gods. Gods of the eldar and other such gods are artificial gods, warp powers born of belief and the science of the mythical Old Ones. Such gods are made of stories and the power of prayer. Warp gods, however, are born of emotions and the debris of the War in Heaven, they cannot be benevolent. Even if the galaxy found peace the gods of the warp would still not embody any of their positive traits, the damage left by the war in heaven would still taint them.

In fact, any and all attempts to create a god are doomed to make a warp god. The order of the warp the Old Ones used were broken in the War in Heaven. And more disturbing is the prophesy about the so-called lords of order found by Argel Tal of the Word Bearers during the defense of Black Library in the Scouring.

translated from the old one's language, using eldar runes as a baseline into gothic, it reads as follows:

_When the arch priest is saved from the hells ruled by the specter king, the end times shall begin. _

_so shall be born the lords of order. First shall be the lord of ambition, the Greater Good, born of the ideals of a naïve race, broken from without and betrayed from within. _

_Second shall come the lord of unity, the Consumer. born of a race that eats like locusts and drawn by the light of order. There primitive mind of one shall be ascended by a fallen angel and a mad god of the material. _

_Third shall come the whispering god Ynnead, the lord of glory past. It shall be born of fools attempting a route they already tread. Mad men will walk down the path of atrocity, blindly believing in their own arrogance. _

_And lastly shall come the Star Father, the true chaos god of order. The first fallen shall lead the angels of hell into humanity's cradle and kill the last hope humanity has left. _

_And thus, when order and chaos unite as one, the galaxy will burn, as the dragon of chaos is impossibly resurrected, and demigods die. _

This prophecy is only known to the highest of the high, only the legion masters, the high lords, the custodes, the Primarchs and the emperor himself. This prophecy would make the imperium lose the things that truly keeps it going. Faith and Hope.

* * *

Indeed, if Vulkan and his legions had managed to use this momentum they would have easily toppled the Imperium. But as is always the case, Chaos is its own worst enemy. Attempting to direct the chaos legions was like attempting to herd drunk and stupid cats. Only the Iron Hands truly stayed with Vulkan throughout the heresy, and even then it was because their corruption was born more in the twisted abominable intelligences and sciences of the Long Night instead of in the Ruinous Powers. Indeed Vulkan only trusted the White Scars, which is why they were sent after the Death Guard. All Vulkan could get the other traitor legions to do was promise to aid him when he reached the solar system.

Thus this state of affairs continued for nine years. The Salamanders, the Iron Hands and the horrible hordes of the lost and the damned led by Kor Phareon made their way to the solar system while the other legions did their own thing. The Space Wolves rampaged indiscriminately, while the Imperial Fists attacked the worlds of the Iron Warriors. The Blood Angels converted worlds to the worship of the gods and slaughtered all who stayed loyal to the throne. The Raven Guards turned entire worlds into horrible brothel-abattoir's, and the Dark Angels gave into Khorne's influence completely after the destruction of Caliban. The White Scars hunted the Death Guard across the galaxy, denying the loyalists the strength of Mortarion's sons.

The only traitor legion with a different situation were the Ultramarines, some of their chapters either aided Vulkan's march or committed atrocities against loyal worlds. But the majority followed there Primarch, as is the way with space legions. During the drop site massacre Roboute led a fourth of his legion on an attack on Monarchia. This world was prized by the Word Bearers, for it is the site where the worship of the eldar pantheon was allowed by the Emperor. Monarchia was burned by the Ultramarines and the famous Kranon the restless had his eyelids removed, alongside the pieces of his brain required for sleep.

This outraged Lorgar, and he led his legion alongside Angron and his legion (having come back from annihilating an orkish empire) to make Ultramar burn. However, Roboute was one step ahead of them, as chaos cultists on each of the 500 worlds sacrificed themselves, and while some loyalist Ultramarines aided the loyalist legions, they were most killed in these sacrifices. Thus was born the Ruinstorm, and the Shadow Crusade began.

Then eventually Vulkan and his fleets arrived at the gateways to Sol, and the traitor legions assembled. The reported death of Alpharius at Eskrador by Roboute disheartened loyalists, even if it was revealed to be an Alpha legion ploy. Much of the Ultramarines might came with Roboute, and the traitor legions assembled.

On Terra proper the traitor legions once again proved chaos was its own worst enemy. The Raven Guard attacked the populace of Terra while the Space Wolves, Dark Angels and Imperial fists attacked the Imperial palace heedless of strategies. They were consumed by hatred, and the siege continued for months.

Eventually word reached the commanders of both sides that the Word Bearers and World Eaters had escaped the Ruinstorm, and alongside the Night Lords they rushed for Terra. Indeed, they soon arrived and Lorgar engaged Roboute and killed him. Meanwhile Angron banished Corvis Corax, causing the Raven Guard to collapse to the ground writhing in pain and pleasure, with many nobles becoming spawn.

It was then that Vulkan challenged the Emperor personally, lowering the shields on the Flamewrought. The Emperor, Horus, several Custodes and the Mournival all teleported to the Gloriana class battleship and were separated. There Horus found Sanguinius and was betrayed by him, and the Mournival then banished Sanguinius. Vulkan and the Emperor dueled, and it was only the death of a mortal soldier by Vulkan that caused the Emperor to realize his son was beyond saving. Unleashing his full power, the Emperor annihilated Vulkan, and was wounded fatally by Vulkan in turn. Even the Perpetual nature of Vulkan couldn't save him from the power of the Master of Mankind. The custodes and the Mournival carried the Emperor to the golden throne, where Malcador had sacrificed himself. And thus ended the heresy.

Post heresy: the long war begins

With the death or betrayal of every Primarch considered fit to rule the Imperium, the job fell to Lorgar and the Mournival. Thus after the creation of the High Lords of Terra the Scouring began, as worlds that fell to chaos were retaken. The forces of chaos fled to the galactic hells that are warp storms. The traitor legions and the Dark Mechanicus fled to all these places where only the whims of the dark gods is law. The majority of the traitor legions fled to the Eye of Terror, while the Ultramarines and those of Cawl's followers went to the Ruinstorm that was once the 500 worlds of Ultramar. Kor Phareon and his unholy flock fled to the Screaming Vortex, while the corrupted Eldar fled to the one warp storm that did not offend their senses; the Maelstrom. The Maelstrom was not the ruins of there once grand empires like the Eye of Terror and the Screaming Vortex, nor was it the crude human infested canker that is the Ruinstorm.

The Iron Warriors made mighty rings of defenses around these four hells known as the Iron Cages, and then the Imperium began to divide its power. The Imperial Army was divided into the Imperial Guard and the Imperial Navy. However, Lorgar immediately overruled the proposed breaking of the legions, saying that it would turn the mighty walls of humanity defenders into a collection of rotting picket fences easily destroyed by those seeking humanity's end. Lorgar believed (correctly) that the traitors survived inside the warp storms, having seen firsthand the horrors of the Ruinstorm, but he knew that the rest of the Imperium believed the traitors dead. Instead he cited the xenos enemy's, those known and who could arise.

In the eye of terror and other warp storms, the chaos corrupted forces carved out empires. The legions rarely stayed united, but the daemon Primarchs and their followers made their homes upon daemon worlds, where the great game of chaos is played.

The dark Angels rule over the world of Mordred, where armies of serfs and knights fight in a twisted mockery of chivalry, the legion of Khorne retaining their minds unlike so many of his berserk worshipers. Lion El'Jonson sits upon a throne made of skulls, brooding upon the wound Luther inflicted on him. Normally this obvious wound would necessitate the constant deflection of usurpers, but none are foolish enough to challenge the lion, even though he is weakened.

The White Scars rule over the world of Eindoe, an apocalyptic wasteland where the horsemen of chaos ride across the four quarters. The fate of Jagatai Khan is unknown, but the four true horsemen rule in his place, one for each of the four chaos gods. This is the center of their twisted empire, with many different worlds ruled by different Khans.

The Space Wolves rule over Asgard, a plague world that invokes the ancient legends of Valhalla. Here space wolves and mortals fight and drink endlessly, with twisted Valkyries born from human and eldar women choosing those worthy of ascension. And upon a throne of rotted ash sits Leman Russ, sleeping until the Wolftime. Each of the great company's rule a different daemon world in the eye.

The Imperial Fists reside upon the world known as Hangai, a place of buzzing and ever shifting hives, always making sigils for ritual magic. Here rules Rogal Dorn, now identical to the Gedehams in form, a horrible wasp centaur thing. His only goal is to see the works of his brother Perturabo destroyed, he seeks to shatter the Iron Cages and defile all his fortresses, with something particularly nasty planned for the imperial palace. From the hives of Hangai pour the Imperial Fists, breaking themselves upon the Iron Cage that traps them.

The Blood Angels, the first fallen, the priests of chaos, rule over worlds that are truly hells. Every place where the souls of bad people were sent has become a daemon world in the warp storms, ruled by the fallen angels. They preach to flocks of adoring cultists, and feed upon the blood of mortals, innocent and guilty alike. And upon the world of Helvete, the first of the crone worlds, is Sanguinius. In a place known to the common folk as the Nine Hells, the angel of Baal alternatively broods upon his lost wings and meditates on the will of the dark gods.

The world of the Iron Hands is not named by the Iron Hands, considering it just a world, one that their lord Ferrus Manus resides on, but just another number. The Imperium calls it Unicron, as it was referred to by Lorgar as such when he first heard of it. On this world the Iron Hands work eternally, recreating the horrors of the Age of Strife. It is unknown what they plan to do with these unnatural monsters, but it can only be bad for the imperium. in addition, the Iron Hands have a close friendship/rivalry with the black legion, led by Fabius Bile and composed of renegades of all legions and many other xenos, as well as Biles twisted new humanity.

The Ultramarines make their home in the Ruinstorm, the warp storm surrounding the 500 worlds of Ultramar. 500 daemon worlds reside in this place, ruled by the warbands called chapters. On the world of Macragge rests the corpse of Roboute Guilliman, kept in stasis on the verge of death from the wounds inflicted by Lorgar. In the Ruinstorm also resides the arch-heretek Cawl, who made the horrible Primaris Marines after 10,000 years, and they have plagued the imperium ever since the 32nd millennium. Time is meaningless in a warp storm, and thus for Cawl it took 10,000 years but for the rest of the universe it took him mere centuries before his twisted "improvements" on the Emperors work was unleashed.

The arch traitor's legion, the Salamanders, rule a world near identical to their home Nocturne. this world, called Volcanis, is a world of raging volcanos and hammering forges. The Salamanders still love there Primarch, screaming "Vulkan lives!" as their war cry. they launch black crusades seeking the artifacts of Vulkan. It is believed by both them and by the Imperium that if the nine artifacts of Vulkan are reunited on Volcanis and a ritual performed by the Forgefather then Vulkan will return, and both parties seek the artifacts to prevent or ensure that Vulkan indeed lives.

And the Raven Guard, a legion comprised of spawn and nobles, reside on a world known as Nevermore, from the last words of Corvis Corax before ascending as a spawn prince. Here on this world the spawn writhe in ecstasy and nobles inflict atrocity's untold. And flying above it all is Corax, now a chaos spawn daemon prince the size of Texas, eternally in the twisted shape of a raven.

It is the end of the 41st millennium, and it seems that dusk is upon humanity. The orks gather in hordes unseen since the war of the beast which cost Mortarion his life. The Tau attack the Iron Cages unaware of the hell they will unleash. The Tyranids attack the galaxy, drawn by the light of the Astronomicon. The Dark Eldar continue to wage their ceaseless war on real space. Worse still is the fact that entire worlds are found lifeless, and the seer council of the Ulthwe alliance fearfully warn their allies in the Imperium of the Necrons.

But the greatest threat to the Imperium is undoubtedly Chaos, and now the traitor legions seem to have reunited. Reports say that the 13th black crusade has found the last of the artifacts of Vulkan, which even now makes its way to Volcanis. In the Ruinstorm the Ynnari and Cawl work together to resurrect Roboute.

But hope also comes to mankind, as in the Hadex Anomaly there are rumors of a mighty champion of man, trapped there by the specter king. Even now he draws ever closer to freedom from the hell he is trapped in. It is the endtimes, and the galaxy will burn.

* * *

Author notes

Alright, these are my random observations on this story.

First off, this story was born on , which is a cool site with a lot of fandom discussions and more that is free and easy to sign up too. Anyway, I made a post about Warhammer alternate heresy's and a Viscount of Ohio mentioned two things, one a possibility of Lorgar being raised in the black library and Vulkan being arch traitor yet still being his kind self. Thus the volcanic heresy (his name that I am using) was born.

Now to address the two things I want to really address, based on the first review I got for this story.

First I know Sanguinius is basically canon Lorgar, that is intentional. I wanted an emperor worshiping Primarch and it just hit me to use the blood angel Primarch. He has freaking angel wings

Second, the first reviewer said I was unclear about which chaos gods got which legion. I think it's obvious, but I will state here which legions fall and the meta reason behind it.

Khorne gets the Dark Angels, and the meta reason is because I haven't seen it in other alternate heresys.

Tzeench gets the Imperial Fists, the meta reason is that I got a good idea on that thread where I started this idea as a mere description outline. I asked how Rogal Dorn, who couldn't tell a white lie to save his life, would become corrupted by the god of lies. One person, I don't remember who, suggested a Tzeench corrupted species with ever changing fortresses that do not obey the laws of physics driving him mad. So were born the Gedehams, I wanted to call them Vespids but that names taken.

Nurgle gets the space wolfs, and once again it was born on the alternatehistory site. Someone posted about a scenario where Russ falls to Tzeench by the warp touched atmosphere of Prospero, and he makes a deal with Tzeench to save his legion. I see the same thing happening, but Nurgle headbutts Tzeench and corrupts Russ.

Slannesh gets the raven guard, and I gotta be honest. The only reason the raven guard gets corrupted by Slannesh is because there needs to be a Slannesh legion. My original plan was for the raven guard to be like the canon alpha legion, but I realized Slannesh didn't have a legion, so I shoehorned them in.


	2. Index Astartes- Dark Angels

Index Astartes - Dark Angels: The Blood Knights

Where once these Astartes were held as the greatest of the legions, now they are the playthings of Khorne himself. Unlike the mindless berserkers who so often serve the Blood God, the Dark Angels keep their minds. They have tactics and a twisted honor system, seeking honorable blood and heroic skulls, framing themselves as the honorable knights they once were. They march to war alongside hordes of those broken by the Interrogator-Chaplains and the many chaos knights that still owe their allegiance to the Dark Angels. Upon the world of Mordred, itself a twisted bloody copy of the long ago destroyed Caliban, Lion El'Jonson sits upon a throne of skulls brooding upon the wound his foster father gave him. Treachery is prevented by his power and the knowledge that he defeated Doombreed when he was still a mere Primarch. He orders his legion to hunt the fallen, those among his sons who remain loyal to the Throne. Only when they are all killed will the sorcery of Sar Luther be undone, and then will make the imperium bleed. He will lead his armies and take Terra for Khorne, and the skull of the Emperor will be added to the Skull Throne of the Blood God.

origins

Caliban is a forested death world, afflicted by a form of chaotic corruption. While its closeness to the Eye of Terror can be blamed for the rise of the Beasts that terrorized Caliban for much of the Age of Strife, the truth is much darker. Only those with the highest clearance (such as those who are permitted to read these files) can handle the simple truth; Caliban was damned since it was born. Its origins lie in the War in Heaven and was the prison for the warp entity known as the Ouroboros. This creature is an equal to the chaos gods in power, and part of an evil triumvirate that serves a deep warp entity so alien that reality cannot handle its name. The Ouroboros was kept in check by the xenos species known as the Watchers in the Dark, who now inhabit the Inquisitional fortress known as the Rock, which is formed from the remnants of Caliban.

But it was upon Caliban that one of the Primarch pods landed. It is unknown how the child who would become known as Lion El'Jonson would survive. Indeed, some amongst the Inquisition would claim that his survival was proof that Lion had fallen to Khorne as a mere infant, but that is severely doubtful. It was as a young man that the Primarch was found by Sar Luther, a high-ranking member of the organization known as the Order. This organization was like the knights of old earth, nobles dedicated to protecting the innocent from all threats. The other knights bade Luther to kill the Primarch, for surely this being was a beast in human form. After all, no child could have survived the savage forests. But Luther refused, and adopted the Primarch, naming him Lion El'Jonson, which meant The Lion, Son of the Forest. Some believe that Luther was partially motivated by the recent deaths of his wife and daughter at the claws of a beast, but others say it was merely his nobility and kindness that caused his adoption. Many believe that if Luther had killed the Primarch then the galaxy would be a better place, but it is much more likely that Khorne would have merely found a different champion.

Lion El'Jonson quickly rose through the ranks of the Order and convinced the grand masters of the order to commit a grand crusade against the beasts that infested Caliban, as well as the Knights of Lupus who had become corrupted. Lion's oratory skills and martial might earned him the title of Supreme Grand Master of the Order. While lesser men might have been jealous at this, Luther was merely proud of the man he considered his son. It was after this crusade that the Imperium found Caliban and the Emperor met his lost son. The Order supplied many new recruits for the first legion, either becoming Astartes if young enough, or becoming genetically enhanced beings nicknamed Half-Bloods, or Half-Astartes, if too old.

* * *

Half-Bloods

a sad truth about the geneseed implantation process is that it requires children. age 10 is the preferred age, but the traitor legion known as the Space Wolves, before their treachery, reported inductees twice that age. This is because the still developing body of a male is required to give the geneseed its proper function, working with the testosterone to elevate a mere boy to the might of a space marine. However, there are those who are too old to become space marines yet too close to the Primarch to be unenhanced.

Using gene enhancements developed by the Emperor himself, a man or woman can become an equal to an Astarte. While they gain no extra organs, there strength and intelligence is increased, and they gain the ageless immortality typical to those enhanced by the Emperor. It is possible for an Astarte or a Custode to live forever but given the state of the galaxy that is unlikely to happen. War, disease or assassination is the fate of the Emperor's Angels of Death and his Custodians.

The name Half-Blood is attributed to Lorgar, and most of the foster families of the Primarchs were made into Half-Bloods, at least those that lived to see the Emperors arrival. Some examples include Sar Luther, Amon, Callaphone, Andos and Herakon.

* * *

The new direction of Caliban did not sit well with many of the older knights of the Order and attempted to assassinate both Lion and The Emperor himself, both attempts foiled by the psyker Zahariel. It was after Caliban's loyalty was assured that Lion was brought to Terra to assume command of his legion.

The Great Crusade

* * *

"On my homeworld of Caliban, there is a myth about a creature known as a Dark Angel. They are defenders of the innocent and heroes, destroying the monsters that would see humanity destroyed and the traitors who would poison humanity from within. No longer are we merely the first, we are the Dark Angels, and we shall rid the galaxy of the beasts and traitors just as I did on Caliban."

extract from Lion's speech upon assuming command of his legion.

* * *

The first legion was a prototype in many ways, not specializing in anything but being able to do all things. When Malcador the Hero, once Malcador the Sigilite, referred to the first legion he called them "Jacks of all trades, masters of none." Recruited mainly from the lands that were once known as Britain, the first quickly proved itself against myriad forces. Upon Terra they fought in the war of merica, where all legions fought against the myriad horrors birthed in the country once called the united states of America, which had sadly become a nation of horrors only Ursh rivaled, and even then the horror of Ursh was based in the influence of the Ruinous Powers. The first destroyed the psyker covens and their mannequin minions in the commerce-hive that was once the mall of America and a horde of strange bionic bats in the hive of bay city. Once they turned to the wider solar system they were instrumental in freeing nine moons of Jupiter from the now annihilated xenos species called the muses. In addition, alongside the 5th and 6th legions, they were instrumental in the destruction of the unseen masters who planned to use the lost moons of Jupiter as weapons to take their vengeance upon the Imperium. In the wider galaxy the first were the ones who cast down the tyrannical living holograms of duwen 5 and destroyed the pain lords of duriel. In what might be irony the first was the legion that most often encountered knight worlds, where the STC constructs known as knights were found and feudal society's existed. Alongside the knights they destroyed the Hawkwood ork empire, which possessed twisted orkish mockeries of the knight houses.

When Lion took command of the legion he named them after a being from Caliban myth. Quickly trouble was encountered in the form of the Rangdan. The Dark Angel legion was involved in all three of the horrible and bloody conflicts known as the Rangdan Xenocides, which severely reduced the legion. It is said that during the third xenocide Lion was approached by a being called Alpharius but considering that Alpharius had not been discovered this creature is believed to be the daemon of Tzeench known as the changeling. Amongst the less costly victory's the Dark Angels won include the freedom of Cantus from the Bardic college that enslaved the people through an obsessive melody and the destruction of the Gizogoth xenos, bloated humanoids with the heads of bugs who spread heresy and rebellion amongst the masses through controlled bugs.

Amongst the Primarchs Lion was a loner, his closet bond being with Leman Russ. This was born during the Dulan Campaign, where Lion killed a rebel leader that had insulted Russ. They dueled for 24 hours before Russ started laughing, having realized that the duel was petty. This resulted in Lion knocking Russ out, and the two began dueling very frequently. Even in the 41st millennium the Dark Angels and the Space Wolves possess a friendly rivalry.

It was during the Saorosh campaign, Luther saved Lion from a nuclear bomb planted by the chaos cult that ruled that planet. However, in attempting to defuse the bomb Luther seemingly hesitated. This resulted in Luther being banished to Caliban. Many other Caliban born legionaries who disagreed with Lion were also banished.

As with all of the eighteen legions the Dark Angels saw action during the Ullanor campaign, breaking the mightiest ork empire. they engaged the survivors of the Hawkwood empire, alongside other ork knights. At the triumph when Horus was named Warmaster, Lion was disappointed. His encounter with the Changeling had led him to believe he was meant to be the Warmaster. However, despite what some critics might believe the elevation of Horus was not an act of nepotism but choosing the best candidate for the job. Lion was far too secretive and stoic to be the Warmaster, he even admitted he didn't understand the emotions of others. However, he asked for the permission of Horus to take his legions forces into the ghoul stars, which was granted.

The Ghoul Stars: the fall to Khorne

The Ghoul Stars are a place lit by the light of dying stars, with threats that can only be described as supernatural. Astropathic communications were sporadic, and what reports were given were horrifying. Most creatures and civilizations the Dark Angels encountered would shatter the sanity of even the most harden inquisitor, however somewhere more comprehensible. Some things they encountered included Orkish empires, the Bone Kingdom of Drazzak, and the vermin lords of arakin. And while the Bone Kingdom survived, the Herdlords and their summer cattle that brought sun and desert heat with them did not. Nor did the twisted time deer xenos race, upright willowy deer like beasts of truly impossible grace and striking beauty who caused time itself to ripple in their wake.

It was during these campaigns that Khorne's influence came over the legion. As with many things involving chaos the information available to the imperium, which is known to be true, comes primarily from three sources. These are the Thousand Sons psyker arts, the Night Lords investigative skills and the enhanced interrogation techniques used by the Alpha Legion. While the nature of the natives of the ghoul stars has made this information more of a rough outline than a true story, the basics of the fall are all that are needed.

The endless conflict against the monsters and deviant cultures wore on Lion El'Jonson. The horrible truth of war was being constantly exposed to him, conflicting with the code of his knightly upbringing. Here was boundless proof that war was horrible, not glorious. It was soon after the purging of a world that contained two factions, strange antimatter ghosts and a deviant human culture that sacrificed unborn babies to fight aforementioned ghosts, that something strange happened. Lion El'Jonson inadvertently activated the psyker powers all Primarchs possess, afflicting the entire legion with visions of his childhood on Caliban. Not even the most powerful device of the Alpha Legion, the Dictaphone and its twisted Shaving Engine (which owes their names to Lorgar) could get any being who experienced these visions to explain anything beyond savage nightmares and horrible claws and teeth. These visions caused the tensions in the fleet to rise even higher.

It was then that they encountered a world seemingly empty of life. Suspecting a trap, Lion took only the Deathwing, his personal guard, with him. Exploring the sole remaining city on this world, once the capital of the great civilization that made its home here, they saw signs of battle long past. The walls were scratched with sword marks. In reality, this world had experimented with the warp and had inadvertently unleashed the blood legions, the daemonic legions of the blood god Khorne. They had destroyed all but this capital, and the daemon sent to corrupt Lion and the first legion sat upon a throne of brass and blood. This daemon is known as Doombreed.

* * *

Doombreed, the first of Khorne's princes

While it is an indisputable fact that Be'lakor is the first of the Daemon Princes, Doombreed is most likely the first to arise from humanity, and most definitely the first to be one of Khorne's. In life he was the warlord known as Genghis Khan, and his atrocities were so great that he was given Daemonhood by Khorne. Doombreed is known to be able to slaughter an entire world by himself and to be stronger than even the Daemon Primarchs, wielding a mighty axe of Khorne and the Rod of Khorne. The fact that Lion defeated him while still a mortal is most likely a sign of Khorne's favor for said Primarch, though none dare test the theory.

The involvement of Doombreed in imperial history did not stop after his defeat by Lion in the Ghoul Stars, and during the heresy he fought alongside chaotic forces. Argonis, the treasonous herald of Horus, summoned Doombreed to destroy the world of Accazzar-Beta for refusing to surrender to Vulkan. Aboard the Flamewrought he witnessed the death of Horus and the banishment of Sanguinius, and alongside N'kari he prevented the Custodes from aiding the Emperor.

Only two other major battles are known to have the involvement of Doombreed. The first took place in the scouring, more specifically the battle known as the Second Damnation of Janus. During this battle the world of Soritarius came under attack by Janus's Cabal, the second chaotic organization to bear the name. Ctesias, a traitorous Thousand Son and a master of Daemonology, used the true name of Doombreed to summon him and make him destroy Czetherrtihor, a powerful titan bound to defend the remnants of the city of Tizca. While the attempt to undo the Rubric and damn the Rubric marines to Tzeench's service failed, the real purpose of the attack was achieved, and Janus became twice-damned.

The second conflict was the fifth black crusade, where Forgefather He'stan sacrificed all 10 million souls of the world of Tarinth. Doombreed was enticed by the idea of thousand space marine skulls, he declared war upon the Iron Warriors and the Night Lords. Two companies were slaughtered by him, and it was here he gained his infamous cloak of skulls, made up of a thousand loyal space marine skulls. Only the sacrifice of a force of the Sons of Horus and their battle barge the Eclipse of Hope managed to banish the daemon prince. However, as the 13th Black Crusade begins Doombreed is allied with the Forgefather.

* * *

Doombreed stated that Khorne had chosen the Dark Angels as his legion in the coming war against the Emperor. However, Doombreed wanted to test the Lion to ensure his strength was worthy of the blood god. He challenged the Primarch to a duel, if Doombreed won then he would possess the Lion and lead his legion, if he lost then the Lion was worthy of bathing the Galaxy in blood. Lion and Doombreed dueled, and during the duel visions of Lion's childhood on Caliban assaulted him. These were undoubtedly the worst visions, and while what he saw is unknown it did convert him completely to the service of Khorne. Once the Lion's soul fully belonged to the blood god he defeated Doombreed and dedicated his legion to Khorne's service.

The sorcerers of the Dark Angels (Khorne only hates those psykers who use their powers to fight their battles for them) detected a force that would enable them to get to the Istvaan system and thus participate in the war that would split the galaxy asunder. They headed for this force, slaughtering every civilization in their path for the glory of Khorne. Eventually they reached a world that was seemingly lifeless and landed upon the world. They encountered many fields of dust and other stasis induced deaths, including groups frozen as they fled from there doom (who were quickly sacrificed to Khorne). Upon this world was the Tuchulcha, a daemon engine who was sister to the Ouroboros, a spider to counterpart the snake. It worked by harnessing the power of stasis to truly horrible effects. Like the rest of the Triumvirate its origins lay in the War in Heaven. In addition, it could weave webs of stasis allowing for perfectly safe warp travel. If this engine remained in traitor hands, the history of the galaxy could have taken a much darker turn. However, the Tuchulcha was lost during the battle of Caliban.

It was during the planning before the Drop Site Massacre that questions were raised about the red coloration of the Dark Angels armor. A partial truth was told that the new coloration was in honor of a particularly momentous victory in the ghoul stars. But the truth was that they had merely stopped cleaning their armor, permanently staining it red with the blood of those they slaughtered. The truth was revealed during the massacre, as much of the blood upon the sands was split by the Dark Angels.

The Heresy: The Doom of Caliban

Ever since Lion had defeated Doombreed he had been bursting with warp power, on the cusp of ascending to Daemonhood. In fact, the only reason he wasn't suspected by the loyalist Primarchs at the planning was that none of them had truly accessed there psyker powers. However, something was keeping him tied to the mortal realm. Then he realized what it was, Caliban. Upon his home world was a contingent of Astartes who would reinforce his armies and gain him his rightful place as champion of the blood god.

When thee fleet materialized in orbit around Caliban they were attacked. Once again, the efforts of the Alpha Legion and their ability to get people to talk have proved invaluable. Through conversation with the fallen (those Dark Angels who remained loyal), the truth of what happened on Caliban was revealed. Caliban had been afflicted with a resurgence of beasts, undoubtedly the result of the Ouroboros being awakened by the chaos. In addition, a cabal of sorcerers from Terra led armies of undead alongside those knights who believed that Lion had betrayed them. It was during this conflict that Luther declared himself and his forces loyal to the throne.

The betrayal of his sons caused Lion to rage so greatly that he literally exploded, becoming the first of the Daemon Primarchs. He then descended upon the planet and dueled his foster father.

* * *

Luther was horrified by what his son had become. The monster before him was a being like the knights of old, his armor seeping and stained with the blood of the innocent. His face was that of a snarling hound, and he spoke with a voice that was a horrible thing of noble hypocrisy and bloody tyranny, "Why do you fight my father? You must accept the fact that the blood god has use for us. He can give us purpose where the Emperor could not." Luther's response was simple, "You would enslave us to a blood thirsty savage. I am loyal to humanity and the Imperium!" Lion scowled and laconically responded, "Then you will die!"

It was then that Luther slashed his sword through the monster his son had become while Lord Cypher, once librarian Zahariel, banished both the Ouroboros and the Tuchulcha. Caliban was engulfed in a warp storm, destroying it and sending the fallen across time and space.

* * *

After the destruction of Caliban, Lion El'Jonson stopped commanding his forces. The wound he had been inflicted by Luther was not healing despite his power. This worried him, and he quickly realized that those who he had declared fallen, those who remained loyal to the Emperor, were the cause of his wound's permanency. The magic Luther had cast upon him was bound to the fallen, and his wound would only heal once all the fallen were dead. The wound caused Lion to remain out of combat, and while his legion still fought he did not fight in the heresy. Only one battle saw him enter the field, the siege of Terra.

The Siege of Terra: the Attack on the Citadel

It is a sad truth that the War in the Webway was not only the death of the Emperors ultimate plan, but also a big reason, perhaps the main reason, the heresy lasted for so long. Were it not for the battle against the endless hosts of Daemons and the twisted beings that would form the basis of the Baator empire, as well as hosts of traitors, kept the Emperor and his talons, along with the forces of Cegorach and the Harlequins, from engaging the traitors. If the Emperor was not focused on keeping Terra safe then he could have easily crushed the traitors. That is not to say his decision was wrong, far from it, but it is merely a statement of fact. Vulkan also knew this, and thus sent a force to make sure that those fighting in the Webway could not reinforce those of the Harlequins and the talons currently fighting in the siege of Terra.

The order of blanks known as the Sisterhood of Silence was one of the talons of the Emperor, an all-female order much like the Adeptus Sororitas. They were vital in keeping many of the Daemonic hordes at bay, and at the border of the Imperium controlled Webway was the Somnus Citadel. Unlike the structure of the same name on Luna, this base could move depending on the borders controlled by the Imperium. Vulkan knew that the sisterhood could easily wreak havoc on his forces, so he sent the blessed of Khorne to prevent this from happening.

Using the Ghastbone provided by the Ynnari, a massive force of Dark Angels led by Lion managed to invade the Webway. As the blessed of the blood god, they were immune to the psychic power of the blanks. Indeed, those fighting on Terra proper were either the Interrogator-Chaplains that had been librarians before the corruption and those who had been considered expendable, bolstered by hordes of the broken. The vast majority of these broken were butcher gangs and were slaughtered by the World Eaters.

In the Webway Lion led the charge against the sisterhood, slaughtering many of them before he and the Dark Angels were confronted by the Fallen, who were led by Luther. In the wreckage of the Citadel father and son clashed. No words were spoken, for anything worth saying had already been said during the battle of Caliban. Here however, Luther was at a disadvantage. On Caliban he had merely been stalling for time and used his relative speed and Lion's lack of knowledge about his new forms abilities to his advantage. In addition, Lion was still exhausted from the Drop Site Massacre, and was slightly sluggish. But here Lion had the advantage, the slain witches giving him power, and even though he was wounded he knew his forms powers perfectly. In addition, Luther was the one tired, having spent months repelling countless horrors. An Astarte cannot take a Primarch on and win, and Luther was not even a true Astarte.

Luther was slain by his son, but before his lifeless body could be decapitated the heresy was over. It was no yell over the vox that caused the forces of chaos in the Webway to retreat, but a side effect of the Emperor's blow against Vulkan. The full power of the Emperor was unleashed, utterly annihilating his Perpetual son, leaving nothing behind, no body or even his soul. This shockwave echoed through the Warp and every Daemon in the solar system was banished. Not even the Daemon Primarchs were immune, and Lion roared his rage at being denied his prize. It is believed that were it not for the actions of Janus then no Daemon would be able to manifest in the solar system for more than a few seconds, outside of the twisted techno-hells that lie beneath the surface of Mars. Seeing that their Daemon allies were banished, the other chaotic forces fled.

Post-Heresy: The Pursuit of the Fallen

Once the heresy ended, the Dark Angels fled to the warp storms like the rest of the traitor legions. Eventually on the Daemon World Mordred Lion was found, and during the time of imprisonment before Janus delivered the rituals and the first Black Crusade was launched Lion was attacked by ambitious underlings and assassins who saw his wound as a weakness. Each time they were effortlessly slaughtered, and soon it became known that the wound in no way weakened him. When the freedom came in Janus and the Crusades Lion made a proclamation. The Fallen, those who betrayed him, would be hunted and killed. Even when the Dark Angels fragmented into warbands, they all followed this command. Most blood crusades have their origins in the appearance of one of the fallen, either manifesting upon a world from the ritual that saved them so long ago or being found despite their efforts to hide.

* * *

notable engagements with the fallen

M34: the Deathwing launches a Blood Crusade against Obidiah Hrakon, who has taken refuge on a knight world. The grand master of the Deathwing challenges Obidiah to duel, and if he wins or loses then the wider world will be spared. They duel and Obidiah is defeated, his head is taken by the grand master, who withdraws his forces in honor of the duel.

M38: The event known as the Hundred World rebellion is enacted by the Disciples of Caliban with the aid of the heretic priest Alldric the Subverter, and while the cults spawned by Alldric engage in a war against the Death Guard that the legion wins at great cost, the Disciples hunt down Cypher.

M41: During the Macharian Heresy, the Ravenwing hunts down Cypher while occasionally fighting the Alpha Legion amongst the territory's that were engulfed in civil war at the end of the Macharian Conquests.

M41: In an event known as Cegorach's due amongst the Harlequins, a Blood Crusade chases the fallen known as Neziek to the world of Vriedos, and they confront him at a Webway portal. They are stopped by an entire Masque of Harlequins, who hold the blood thirsty chaos marines at bay long enough for Neziek to retreat into the labyrinth dimension.

M41: The Black Templars join forces with the Dark Angels during the attack on Parabulus, a Rogue Trader world on which Cypher was sighted. Soon the argument over who gets to kill the fallen causes the warbands to fight each other, and for thirty years the Unforgiven and the Black Templars war with each other. Only the Lion's direct intervention stops the combat.

M41: The Deathwing gains a rich prize when they attack the world of Darkenhel, as two dozen fallen are captured. The cells of the Hall of Punishment echo with screams for many months, and Khorne scores highly in the Great Game.

M41: When the 13th Black Crusade is launched, Lion decrees that the Unforgiven will aid this effort. When asked why he seemingly bows to the Forgefather, he bloodily gutted the foolish asker, leading the Dark Angels to believe that the crusade will see the end of the fallen. More cynical minds point to Khorne's influence over his legion.

* * *

It is a great honor to either bring one of the fallen before Lion or to bring back proof of their death, and a Dark Angel who does so is gifted a Black Pearl, formed from the congealed blood of the Daemon Primarch. It is the greatest honor to possess one of these objects, and all Dark Angels strive to get as many as they can. Hundreds of fallen have been found, either captured and brought to Mordred or killed in particularly spectacular ways, but there are many more who with there every breath and waking moment oppose the first legion. The fallen are allies to the Imperium, and typically act as knights errant, wandering from world to world fighting for the Imperium with every step they take. While most fallen are singular beings, some ally with the Eldar or the Inquisition in the fight against Chaos. Indeed, even the most puritanical of inquisitors does not hunt the fallen because of the decree of Malcador. Some fallen, Luther amongst them, emerged on Terra and fought in the War in the Webway, and thus Malcador made sure that his heirs would not hunt them. Should a failure to capture one of the fallen occur however, Lion does not rage or outright kill the one who failed, unlike what other servants of chaos would. He merely makes sure they explain satisfactorily why they failed, and ensures they aid the next Blood Crusade against one of the fallen.

* * *

Cypher, lord of the fallen

The most famous of the fallen, many hunt for lord Cypher. Before the heresy, many bore the title of Lord Cypher, the keeper of traditions. This title comes from the sole survivor of the Knights of Lupus, those ancient chaos corrupted knights purged by Lion before he even knew of the Emperor or his demigod nature. It is unknown who is the fallen who currently bears this title, but what is known is that he is completely loyal to the Imperium and wins victory's against Chaos whose true extent take years to be revealed.

His first sighting was in the 31st millennium, so soon it is believed by some that he was unaffected by the ritual that scattered the fallen throughout time and space. His first appearance caused an imperium victory against a Dark Angel warband that had managed to cause half of the world's population to join the broken. How he travels across the galaxy is unknown, but he always appears where hope seems lost and leaves once the threat is vanquished. He seems to follow a pattern unknown to any but him and appears unkillable. He has died many times yet has always returned.

The threat Cypher poses to Chaos in undoubtable, and in the 37th millennium the Chaos Lord Anaziel formed a warband dedicated to the capture of Cypher. This warband, the Disciples of Caliban, is a fleet-based organization. They strike with blistering speed and ferocity, with each ship the best the Dark Mechanicus can offer, and the geneseed used is uncorrupted despite the mutating properties of a warp storm. Only the best is reserved for the most powerful of the fallen, who some of the Broken refer to as the Heir of Luther, out of earshot of their transhuman masters.

Cypher wields twin guns, a bolter and a plasma gun, but he never draws the sword he bears upon his back. Psykers who get close to Cypher can immediately tell that this sword is an artifact of untold power, but its exact nature escapes them. The new eldar empire believes it to be the fifth cronesword, and thus hunt Cypher ceaselessly. The Red Corsairs thus also dedicate a small force to finding Cypher, not wanting to take any chances. If it is the cronesword then it cannot be allowed to fall into Ynnari hands. If not, Cypher is still an ally of the Imperium, and the Red Corsairs are to fight the new eldar empire wherever it is.

* * *

Homeworld

Caliban is no more, having been destroyed during the heresy. It's remains have become an asteroid field that hosts the inquisitorial base known as the Rock. Many are the Dark Angel warbands that seek to destroy what remains of Caliban in vengeance for Sar Luther's wounding of Lion. It has a warp drive, making it mobile, and it has many powerful weapons. Indeed, when the Iron Warrior recruitment world came under attack by the Tau, it was the Rock that annihilated the Xenos in a mere day. Its sides are studded with gun turrets, lance battery's, torpedo tubes, observation centers and communication arrays. Its massive docking bays can accommodate hundreds of smaller vessels, and it can house an entire legion. In truth, it wasn't just a desire to keep the remains of Caliban out of Dark Angel hands that motivated the creation of the Rock. It is also a failsafe, for should the unthinkable happen should Holy Terra, or the solar system, fall then the Rock will become the base of the Grey Knights.

As befitting such an important base it is protected with the best. Indeed a vast vault of machines untouched since the Dark Age of Technology went into the construction of the Rock. Indeed, its shield generator is so powerful not even the Dark Gods can break through it. But there is a weakness in the shield, as if the very warp storm that sundered Caliban all those years ago still rages. Chain lighting rips through the artificial atmosphere, revealing the source of the disturbance. The Tower of Angels, where Lion and Luther first dueled, now lies in ruin. No effort to repair the Tower was made, and even now it is left alone. It is an eerily silent sight, with an storm always above.

In the Eye of Terror the Dark Angels have made their home on the world of Mordred, a twisted reflection of Caliban where hordes of the broken and entire houses of chaos knights fight, and the great beasts of Caliban run rampant. And in the skies are the horrible drakes, representations of the Salamanders. Dotting this world are eternal fields of battle, the opponents of which do not matter to the Blood God. On these fields Broken might fight Chaos Knight, Great Beast, Chaos Marines, Daemons or even other Broken. What matters is that there is eternal fighting, for Khorne does not care from where the blood comes so long as the blood flows. Also dotting the world are Dark Mechanicus forges, known as the Knightwoods. Each of which has a Screaming Oubliettes, a dark mirror of the Chamber of Echoes that is necessary to become an Imperial Knight. Many Chaos Knights, both pilot and corrupted Throne alike, have their origins upon Mordred. It is not only those devoted to Khorne or to Chaos Undivided, for all the gods, even Slannesh, have gained Knights from these places.

Of note are two locations, the first of which is Lion's castle. Here he has rebuilt the castle of the Order where he spent his childhood with Luther. In this place he sits upon a throne of skulls and broods upon his recreation of the Tower of Angels. This thing is called the Tower of Daemons, and no one is foolish enough to go there. The second location is called the Hall of Punishment. If a native of the Baator empire were to see it he would compare it to one of the torture palaces that are ubiquitous in his twisted home. Indeed, it does share its origins with the torture palaces, as soon after their debut Krieg Acerbus, the renegade Night Lord from whose twisted genius these abominable places were born, was contacted by Lion. In the Lion's castle the Primarch explained to the night lord that some of the fallen would be taken alive. He believed that maybe one of the fallen had a way to heal his wound, and if not they deserved to suffer. He commissioned Krieg to create a powerful hall much like his torture palaces but designed to keep Astartes alive for at least months in excruciating pain. Krieg turned his genius to the task, and soon the Hall of Punishment arose, each cell controllable by an Interrogator-Chaplain, as if it were a daemon world of its own. It is unknown what those captured fallen endure, but what is known is that none have ever talked. However, no possibility of being accepted by the corrupted legion was offered, for the fallen proved their disloyalty at Caliban. It is said a particularly horrible cell is reserved for Cypher.

Organization

* * *

The Broken

When the Dark Angels go to war, many chaos cultists come with them. These are those who were captured alive by the Dark Angels and subjected to the non-existent mercy of the Interrogator-Chaplains. After the horrible torture they become the frothing berserkers associated with the worshipers of Khorne. They charge ahead, heedless of anything resembling tactics, desiring only the spilling of blood.

Some truly twisted Interrogator-Chaplains, who were once apothecaries, implant the horrible archeotech known as Butcher Nails into members of the broken. These groups, called Butcher gangs, suffer horrible torture as their brains are drilled into, with only bloodshed providing relief. They do not have long lives, even by the standards of the broken. The World Eaters take particular offense at the Butcher gangs, the merest sight of these hordes causing them to seek their utter destruction.

* * *

Like all of the traitor legions, the Dark Angels have broken into warbands that still technically follow the will of there Primarch but given Daemon Primarchs retreat into the Great Game the legions are left leaderless. Lion has stated that should Vulkan return he will pledge his loyalty anew, but he will not bow to the Forgefather.

All those who bore specialized ranks amongst the Astartes (chaplains, librarians, techmarines, etc.) became the Interrogator-Chaplains once the taint of Khorne befell the legion. They are experts in torture and making pain last longer. In the Baator Empire one of the highest-grade forms of Ahuhu comes from shades who have been tortured by a Interrogator-Chaplain.

However, amongst the warbands there are two who have earned much infamy, serving the twisted inner circle that rules in the Lion's absence. The first is the Deathwing, once the royal guards of the Lion but now the most ardent hunters of the Dark Angels still loyal to the throne. Each wears terminator armor stained with the blood of their foes, and they have only blighted the materium when called by the second company. This dark warband is known as the Ravenwing, and it is all mounted. Indeed, many who know not of the evil deeds and atrocity's perpetuated by the Ravenwing could mistake them for a White Scar warband serving Dain Kahn. Indeed, all are mounted upon bikes and monsters just like a White Scar warband, but in fact are the forward scouts for the hunt of the fallen. There Interrogator-Chaplains are well versed in the ritual of freedom given to them by Thrice-Damned Janus, and to join the Ravenwing first requires a prospective to gain a mount and then hunt down one of the Beasts of Mordred.

The rest of the warbands are collectively known as the Unforgiven, and they generally follow their own goals as most warbands do. But should even the merest trace of rumor of one of the fallen will cause them to alert the Inner Circle, and a Blood Crusade will be launched. All remember the Lion's edict and know the fate that awaits them should they disobey.

Combat Doctrine

While the typical Imperium belief of Khorne are of blood thirsty savages that charge in without any heed to tactics, the Dark Angels are more levelheaded. While they can and will kill non-combatants, they are not mindless berserkers. While they lead hordes of the Broken, every attack on the Imperium has a goal. This goal is either a vengeful attack on the Imperium, a hunt for the Fallen, or a Blood Crusade. They are honorable beings, still holding to the codes of knighthood. Even those who were never amongst the Great Crusade still hold themselves to the standards of a knight. For example, if they promise something they will always uphold their end of the bargain, making them one of the most trustworthy of the servants of Chaos. In addition, if challenged to a duel they will accept it and fight fairly. In fact they always fight fairly, but sadly this does not hold true for the Broken or their other allies.

Beliefs

The Dark Angels have a more archaic worship of Khorne than most of his followers. Indeed, they care more about honor than bloodlust, and think Khorne prefers the blood of those who will fight against them than that of citizens or the infirm. In addition, the only skulls they take are those of losers in honor duels, which are very ritualistic in nature. The heads they take are ritually removed of all flesh over eight days, then burnt in a fire lit by the blood of 888 unworthies. If Khorne accepts the skull it will disappear, and if not it will blacken and become the helmet of an Interrogator-Chaplain. Thus do those who torture the fallen torture themselves, reminding them eternal of Khorne's high standards.

Geneseed and Recruitment

The geneseed of the Dark Angels remains remarkedly stable, none of their special organs have malfunctions. However, each and every Dark Angel gains visions identical to those suffered by those in the Ghoul Stars, when Lion was slowly going mad. However, they also see visions of the battle of Caliban, of the Sorcery Luther unleashed. It is those visions that drives them to the code of honor and the completely loyalty to Khorne possessed by the Dark Angels.

As for recruitment, there are two sources, the sources used by all the chaos legions. These are Biles twisted Fleshmart and raids against the Imperium. Like all the traitor legions they have selective tastes when it comes to children they use. They only select sons of noble blood, and one of the main jobs possessed by the Orders Famulous is protecting the sons of their houses from Dark Angels and their agents.

The ritual given to the Dark Angels by Janus is simple and bloody, much like the Broken who serve them. A Great Beast of Mordred must be hunted down, captured, and the ships that will bear the Dark Angels to realspace must be covered in the Beast's blood. Most of the Beasts only have enough blood to sanctify one ship, but when one of the Drakes is captured an entire fleet can be covered and escape. However, the danger of the Drakes is such that it rarely happens. Indeed, the last time a Drake was killed and sanctified a fleet was during the Age of Apostasy.

Warcry

The standard warcry of the Dark Angels is that of the worshipers of Khorne, "Blood for the Blood God! Skulls for the Skull Throne!" However, when fighting one of the fallen they typically cry something along the lines of "For Caliban!" or "the sorcery of Luther will be undone!"

* * *

Author note: wow, two chapters in as many days! Don't expect that much speed from me though, because I was mostly done with this chapter when I posted the intro on this site. The next chapter shall be the new eldar empire, servants of the chaos gods and the lord of order known as Ynnead.

My story observations

Now the meta reason I had the Dark Angels fall to Khorne is because I haven't seen it happen in any of the alternate heresys I have read. And thus, all that is left for a new dark angel fall, that I can think of, is a fall to Nurgle. So if anyone is making a new alternate heresy, well, that's a thought.

They worship Khorne, but an older version of him. This explains why they aren't berzerkers and have psykers, and are honorable. Each of the chaos gods is more nuanced than it first seems, and in my Dark Angels and Space Wolves that shows.

I have a seventh edition codex for the dark angels, and it shows in this writing. All those engagements with the fallen come from the book, as does the description of the rock and the fact that the disciples of Caliban were formed to hunt cypher.

My main inspiration for the alternate heresy is the Robutian heresy, which is why my dark angels go to the ghoul stars.

The Rangdan xenocides are canon, though I am uncertain if the dark angels were involved with the second one. As for the Alpharius in the third xenocide being the changeling, I don't think Alpharius was discovered yet, so it makes more sense it's a tzeenchian deception.

For Doombreed corrupting the legion, in most alternate heresy's where lion falls, it's the result of a famous daemon. In the Robutian heresy its Kairos who corrupts them, in the saguniary heresy it's the Masque, and in the fenrisian heresy it's a daemon called the huntlord (I don't know if hes canon, but his description is epic). So I decided to do something similar here.

The Rock is going to be important, for the Watchers in the Dark guard something slumbering deep within the Rock. It is ancient, older than even the ouroboros. It slumbers now, but as the end times approach it will rise, and it will help make the galaxy burn.

For Argonis and Krieg Acerbus being bad guys still, well some characters I couldn't really think of a way to keep them good, out of lack of knowledge or of story nessisity. Some characters will fall, even if they didn't in canon. Cough, Janus, Cough.

The Tau didn't attack Olympia, and the situation with the tau in this universe will be revealed in the iron warriors chapter.

For the dark angels having a lot of chaos knights, I just found it fitting.

For that ritual of escape, the inspiration comes from zahriels prince of the eye, where small bands of chaos space marines can escape. The main difference between mine and his is that mine can be preformed in the warp storms and that I actually detail the rituals. Or at least the versions that work in the warp storms.

For the dark angels taking noble children, that comes from the fenrisian heresy, I just added the part about the Orders Famulous.

For the broken, that comes from both the Robutian heresy and the sanguinary heresy.

And that's it.


	3. Index Xenos- the New Eldar Empire

Index Xenos - The New Eldar Empire - Slaves to Chaos and Order

In the warp resides a twisted thing, unborn yet always having been. A lord of order, a threat on par with the Chaos Gods, it is the lord of the dead, Ynnead. Once a source of hope, now it is known to be a repeat of the monster known as Slannesh. In the misguided desperation to save their species and return to supremacy, the Ynnari have led many to the corruption of chaos. All of the fragmented race fell for the lies of the Reborn, from the Craftworlds to the Dark Eldar to the Outcasts and even the Harlequins. Now these twisted monsters hunker in the Black Arks that were once Craftworlds, hidden in the Maelstrom. Each of the Chaos Gods has at least one of these Black Arks, just as they have one Traitor Legion. Cut off from the Infinity Circuits and World Spirits of the loyalists by the heroism of Eldrad, Ynnead awaits one of two things. It waits for either the Seventh Path to be walked, and the folly of the past to be repeated, or for the inevitable to happen. For the Eldar are a dying race, and once they breathe there last Ynnead will arise. And once Ynnead arises, the galaxy will suffer.

Origins

It is a sad truth amongst civilization that those in the present look to the past, seeing only the good and ignoring the bad. The Adeptus Custodes who arise from America praise the fact their nation was built on equality, ignoring the fact that it took 200 years for those promises of equality to be fulfilled. The Adeptus Sororitas praise their founders, ignoring the fact that for many years they served Goge Vandire unquestioningly for many years. And amongst the Eldar it is particularly bad, for there empire once ruled the galaxy. They speak of the glories but gloss over the true depths of the depravity that birthed Slannesh. To gain a point of reference, one must only look to Commorragh, the twisted home of the Dark Eldar. This horrible place is inhabited by those Eldar who in the time of the Empire recognized the coming disaster but refused to give up their decadent ways. When a remembrancer asked Lorgar about his knowledge of the old eldar empire, for he grew up in the Black Library and would surely know about it, he told the remembrancer this phrase, "Imagine Commorragh, but the size of the eye of terror and having full psyker powers and absolutely no limitations." Indeed, in eldar schools this phrase is what introduces the Fall of the Eldar, for they know that their indolence is what birthed Slannesh.

This connects to Ynnead in a fundamental way, as when Slannesh finished destroying the mortal Eldar, it moved on to consume their gods. Weakened by the years of decadence, when their cults were replaced by cults of pleasure, only three gods escaped being devoured by She Who Thirsts. Even then, only Cegorach escaped unscathed, as Isha was captured and imprisoned by Nurgle while Kaela Mensha Khaine was shattered into many fragments that became the Avatars of Khaine. While the Eldar and the Word Bearers pray to the pantheon still, they know that their gods are dead. It was soon after Lorgar made peace between the eldar (save the Dark Eldar) and allowed them to become a separate empire in the Imperium, much like the Adeptus Mechanicus, that Ynnead was first conceived. The mystic Kysaduras the Anchorite spoke to Eldrad Ulthran, and they began a theory that a new god was gestating in the Infinity Circuits of the Craftworlds. They named this entity Ynnead, the god of the dead, and spread a tale that once every eldar had breathed there last Ynnead would rise and kill Slannesh. This of course, was merely a fiction to comfort the Eldar populace. The Eldar are a dying race (except the Dark Eldar, but they don't really count) and while they have endured for 10 millennia they are doomed to die out. In addition, none of the Farseers, not even Eldrad, believed that Ynnead would be benevolent if it was a reality. After all, the last god to be made from Eldar souls was Slannesh and look how that turned out.

But one Eldar, inadvertently, awakened Ynnead and brought about the second sundering of the Eldar. Yvraine, born on the Craftworld of Biel-Tan, and she walked many paths, from that of the dancer to that of the Warlock. She was a Corsair and even a Succubus of one of the Wych cults. As such, her mind was the closest to that of one of the Pre-fall Eldar. During one of her battles, she was wounded by a priestess of Morai-Heg and after Yvraine won the bout she retreated to a forgotten world to heal. Upon this world she grasped the Cronesword Kha-vir, and on the threshold of life and death she contacted Ynnead and became its first worshiper.

* * *

The Croneswords

While the objects called the Croneswords are little known of by the general populace of the Imperium, there origins are. In fact, there origins are the same as the Howling Banshees Aspect Path, which is told to children across the Imperium. While the reader of this article might know the story, it shall be summarized below.

In ancient times, the Crone Goddess Morai-Heg sought to partake of the knowledge that resided in her blood. She knew only Khaine had the ability to harm a god, so she bade her mortal daughters to haunt the bloody handed gods every step with their piercing screams. Promising an end to his torment, she ordered him to cut off her hand. He did so, and she gained the knowledge of blood while he gained the aspect of the banshee.

After the incident, Morai-heg gave her hand to Vaul, who then forged the five Croneswords from her finger bones. Each is an artifact of great power, and it is said that should the Croneswords be put into the right hands they will give their wielders command over life and death. This forms the central tenant of Ynnari beliefs and the foundation of the Seventh Path. The known Croneswords include the following

Kha-vir, the Sword of Sorrows: In the possession of Yvraine, this horrible blade turns its victims to ash.

Asu-var, the Sword of Silent Screams: found on Biel-Tan, it is now in possession of the Visarch. It can absorb the life force of its victims.

Vilith-zhar, the Sword of Souls: the largest and most impressive of the Croneswords. It is a shapeshifting blade formed of burning and screaming souls, it was recovered on Belial IV and is now wielded by the Yncarne, avatar of Ynnead.

However, it was the fourth Cronesword that threw everyone for a loop, for the fourth blade is in fact not a sword but the Spear of Twilight. While the Ynnari now have four of the five Croneswords they seek the fifth. With the realization that not every Cronesword had to be in the form of a sword, the Ynnari send out search parties seeking every famous weapon in the galaxy.

* * *

Yvraine now began to preach the creed of Ynnead and of the Seventh Path, which declared not all Eldar had to die to awaken Ynnead. She was joined by the Visarch, who was her teacher when she was an Aspect Warrior. This Exarch became the Sword of Ynnead, and they arrived on Biel-Tan where they both originated from. With them came the hordes of the reborn, comprised of Eldar from every subgroup. Members included many wych cults, incubi shrines, corsairs, and some Craftworlds, each of which was slowly falling to either a Chaos god or to Ynnead itself. Not even the Harlequins were safe from this corruption. On Biel-Tan the Seer Council was convinced that the Seventh Path could be opened, but it required an avatar of Ynnead to be awakened. Yvraine thus began a ritual on the Infinity Circuit of the Craftworld, and concurrent with the Drop Site Massacre, the Solitares attacked.

* * *

Solitaries

Amongst the Harlequins there is a group that is particularly feared. These are the Solitaries, who play the role of Slannesh, and are the only ones who can play She Who Thirsts without going insane. They unlike the other Harlequins are not protected from Slannesh's claim on their souls by Cegorach. Instead, Cegorach must challenge Slannesh to a game, and he does not always win. The Solitares wander the galaxy, unlike the other Harlequins who gather in masques. They speak only in ritual format, and those Eldar who speak or interact with a Solitarie by accident take their own lives rather than risk the horrible fate they believe will befall them. Only one group is known to treat the Solitaries with kindness, the Word Bearers. This started with Lorgar, who had grown up in the Black Library. The Solitaries are practically the only group that is allowed to go to and from the Black Library at their leisure. Lorgar treated them with kindness always, recognizing their necessity and the hardship of their lives. This practice is kept alive by his sons and should the Word Bearers call for help the Solitares will come to their aid as soon as possible. In the aftermath of the heresy the Solitaires have gained another role, that of Ynnead.

* * *

The Solitaries learned of the Ynnari and decided to end the threat before it began. To the Eldar that either worshiped Ynnead or was becoming corrupted by chaos it was the Solitaries revealing there "true allegiance" and fought harder to prevent what they believed to be Slannesh's servants from disrupting the ritual. Even here those claimed by the chaos gods showed the influence of their patron. The warhosts of Il-Kaithe showed the berserk bloodlust of Khorne, Iybraesil showed the sorcery and trickery of Tzeench, Mymeara showed the endurance of Nurgle, and most horrifying to the Solitaries was Lugganath, which explified the servants of Slannesh.

The Solitaries could not stop the ritual, and the Yncarne was born. Those few Farseers of Biel-Tan who survived the ritual took one look at the towering monstrosity of twisted bones and damned souls that was surrounded by screaming ghosts and trailed hoarfrost in its wake and realized what they had done. Desperately they tried to banish the thing but were killed by it. There deaths sent a psychic signal to the Solitaries that the battle was lost. They retreated as suddenly as they came, but any rage by the chaos eldar was quelled by the Yncarne's announcement. It spoke in a hissing and whispering tone that was the voice of the deceased. It proclaimed that they would form the new eldar empire and destroy those who foolishly allied with the Mon-Keigh. It then said they would destroy the Damned Craftworld of Ulthwe and plunge into the Eye of Terror to reclaim the third cronesword.

Heresy: into the eye

The twisted world of Biel-Tan, the first true Black Ark, did not engage in the fighting of the Heresy. Even as the new eldar empire began to rampage, with the claimed Craftworlds following the whims of the Ruinous Powers and Yme-Loc recreating the technology of the old empire as well as twisting it to chaos, Biel-Tan remained close to the Maelstrom. Each Craftworld is a living thing, and it is likely that it realized Chaos was doomed to lose. Instead, the fleets of the Ynnari bore the ruling triad (Yvraine, the Visarch and the Yncarne) to the cusp of the Eye of Terror. They fought the warhosts of those Craftworlds who remained loyal, led by the Phoenix Lords, but eventually broke through with the sudden appearance of Alsansar reinforcements, in the service of Ynnead.

In the Eye the ruling triad fought through many crone worlds seeking Belial IV, fighting both the Daemons of chaos (ever divisive are the spawn of the warp) and the remnants of the old empire's technology, mighty Matrons that remained uncorrupted and rightfully considered the Ynnari a threat. Eventually they found what they were looking for, the third cronesword. After annihilating the noosphere of the old empire and thus deactivating the Matrons, they were contacted by the Arch-Traitor Vulkan. It is unknown what was said between the two parties, but every sorcerer of the new eldar empire, for there were no Farseers, received a message from the Yncarne. In a great speech, it essentially said that all pretenses were done, and that the new empire served Chaos.

* * *

the Mon-Keigh problem

Many might question why the new eldar empire willing works with tainted humans or other corrupted xenos. After all, for every true believer in Ynnead there were four who could not accept that their empire was gone and the Mon-Keigh were the only hope for the galaxy. Even considering the fact that those Xenophobic eldar were chaos corrupted surely those who worship Ynnead would not serve chaos, as the god they worship is a lord of order, who are supposedly the enemy of the Chaos Gods. In addition, it is a known fact that the only thing that pre-corruption Vulkan hated was the Dark Eldar, and that hatred carried over into his days as the Arch-Traitor. So why would he ally himself with a faction that had many Dark Eldar within it. Well, there are two simple facts that explain everything. First is that the lords of order are in fact merely chaos gods reflavored. There ultimate goal is the annihilation of free will, but their way of achieving that is the same as the chaos gods. They operate under the same faulty logic of the First Cabal, which shall be described the Alpha Legion file. As for why Vulkan allied himself with a group of eldar worse than the Dark Eldar, one must remember a quote by Lorgar that the Inquisition holds very dear.

"Chaotic corruption is insidious, no one effected by it believes they have become corrupted, until one day they realize they have become everything they hate. And they realize they don't care anymore."

Lorgar, on chaotic corruption.

This quote is vital in understanding Chaos itself. Every single frothing cultist started out as a normal citizen, and all radical inquisitors inevitably were once puritans. When you start down the path of damnation it is inevitable that you will become corrupted. Chaos corrupts through regular human weaknesses, and that's what makes it so dangerous. Indeed, it was the kindness of Vulkan that caused him to fall, but by the end of the heresy there was no kindness in him.

* * *

The main contribution of the empire to the siege of terra was providing the way to construct Ghastbone, but they had a different job. On Ulthwe Eldrad had begun a ritual to sever Ynnead from the Infinity circuits and World Spirits that kept eldar souls safe. If his ritual succeeded then Ynnead would be dumped into the Warp where Slannesh would undoubtedly consume it. Thus the empire mobilized, and the siege of Ulthwe began.

The Siege of Ulthwe

The Siege of Ulthwe was a horrible and grueling battle, just as significant as the Siege of Terra. On both sides there were complications, as on the loyalists dared not use the Ghost Warriors, having used them against the Ynnari only for them to turn against their living allies. Meanwhile the Ynnari fought for the safety of their god, and the wraith of fanatics must never be underestimated. However, what gave the Ynnari a disadvantage was the fact that the majority of the new empire was corrupted by chaos, and without a figure like Vulkan to keep the hordes of chaos somewhat organized they quickly fell into infighting. In addition, the loyalists were led by the Phoenix Lords and the avatars of Khaine. Even then, this would make no difference should the ruling triad take the field, but the loyalists had imperial aid.

The ritual Eldrad and the seer councils were enacting had been designed by the Emperor, and more concrete aid had come in the form of the Alpha Legion. They used infiltrators on the corrupted Craftworlds to awaken the avatars of Khaine, who then wrought havoc upon there traitorous eldar. In addition, the Solitaries had arrived again to aid their race against the evil their souls had birthed. This, and the fact that the ruling triad was currently in the depths of the eye of terror, made the battle drag out. Indeed, the Siege of Ulthwe happened at the same time as and lasted as long as the Siege of Terra. Eventually, the ruling triad came and the Yncarne made a beeline for the Infinity Circuit of Ulthwe, determined to save its originator. And at the same time as Vulkan was annihilated, Ynnead was cut off from the Infinity Circuits and World Spirits in which it resided.

* * *

Eldrad finished the ritual just in time, as the Yncarne was about to burst in. As the last word was spoken, it was banished alongside the twisted warp spawn that was its main body, for Daemons were ultimately cells to the greater body of the warp god that spawned them. Ripples across the Sea of Souls rocked the galaxy, as did happen when concerning the gods that were born of it. The wider effects were not known to Eldrad, and if he knew of them he would probably reach the same conclusion as the Emperor had when making the ritual, that they were acceptable sacrifices for what needed to happen.

The first notable effect was that across the battlefield the Ghost Warriors of the Ynnari were suddenly deactivated, the spirits animating them freed from there slavery and now inhabiting one of the Infinity Circuits of the loyal Craftworlds. In addition, should another Craftworld turn traitor, then its Infinity Circuit would save the Eldar souls within from the taint. It would also happen with the Exodite World Spirits. Soon the so called "New Eldar Empire" would turn tail and run, knowing the battle had turned against them.

In the depths of a crowded hive world an ancient thing awoke, its origins in a Xenos race that had wiped itself out long before the Eldar had even been born. Its psychic might made the world go mad as Khorne claimed the Tarasque as his own, and the weapon made its way to the surface following its ancient orders.

Upon an Exodite world, the ground trembled slightly before becoming quiet. Shamans proclaimed that the World Sprits of all Exodite worlds were safe, too much applause. None noticed the fact that there Craftworld defender of Zandros, having been turned to the worship of Ynnead, suddenly collapsed. Indeed, without its Infinity Circuit Zandros itself died, taking all the Chaos Eldar within to a well-deserved death.

In Commorragh a massive disjunction wracked the city, larger than any that had come before. Indeed, the twisted sun cults used this as a power grab, resulting in the infamous Wars of the Sun and Moon, and while the light wared the shadows of the Dark cheered. In Aelindrach, the shadow palace, the Mandrakes celebrated. Soon all would know that the suns were tame, and the shadows were the thing to fear. The Mandrakes feasted on the pain and agony of their fellow Dark Eldar, for Aelindrach and its inhabitants were the monsters even the other Dark Eldar feared.

In the Screaming Vortex, the souls of a world rose against its vicious master. A Slanneshi Daemon Prince who had made a deal with the newborn god to survive the fall, it resembled a monarch of the old Eldar, if it wore finery made of vines and plants. Upon what was what a world of beauty, comparable to a diamond, was now a horrible overgrown garden with thousands of Eldar souls, forever impaled on twisting thorny vines. But they broke free and had banished the Daemon ruler before themselves merging with a World Spirit thousands of light years away.

A race of living song that made its home upon a world made of crystal, going about their lives unaware of the galactic conflict that raged around them. Indeed, they were loyal to the Imperium, having taught the first Sonic Marines of the Emperors Children their craft, and they offered up a tithe of their crystal to make more sonic weapons. But they were untouched by the heresy, as their minds were too alien to corrupt, their bodies were useless as warriors or slaves or even as Slanneshi pleasure things, and their world was too out of the way to be tactically useful. However, there world was shattered, and their souls added to the maelstrom of souls that Ynnead was desperately generating, trying to cling to its home and failing.

And in the darkness between the stars, far removed from the ritual in both space and time, something awoke that never should have been awoken. This ancient evil was born when the stars themselves were young. They had fought a war against a different race, one so old it made the Old Ones look like children. This race, which had done so many impossible things, could not annihilate this evil. The best they could do was seal it away and remake the stars themselves so that it would never be free. It had slumbered through the rise of the Old Ones, the War in Heaven, the Age of Strife, and the Fall. But with each event that shook the cosmos to its roots its prison became weaker, and now with the banishing of Ynnead it was free. It was M36, and the Harrowing had been unleashed.

* * *

With the banishing of the Yncarne and the deactivation of the Ghost Warriors, the new eldar empire retreated to the location of their true ruler. For Ynnead was alive in the Warp and the Yncarne had ordered them to come to the Maelstrom.

Post-Heresy: The search for the swords

When the scouring began, the loyal Craftworlds sent their forces to aid the Imperium, and the Imperium aided the Craftworlds against the New Eldar Empire. The warhosts of Saim-Hann harried traitor warbands across the galaxy, and the Emperors Children inflicted massive damage against the Black Ark known as Lugganath before being driven off. But eventually the New Eldar Empire all came to the Maelstrom. In said Warpstorm the Yncarne made an announcement, much like the Forgefathers own declaration of the finding, it called for the finding of the other two croneswords. Unlike the Forgefathers declaration, no war ensued between the forces of those not loyal to Ynnead. This was because of the Yncarne promising much to the chaos hordes, and them being appeased.

An Iron Cage was built around the Maelstrom, which was derided as wasteful. In addition to the fact that Eldar had more vulnerability to the Warp than humans, the traitors had surely torn themselves apart as Ynnead died at the claws of She Who Thirsts. Without the stabilizing influence of the Ynnari the Chaos Eldar would fall to infighting. This was proved wrong as the Visarch led a Black Crusade made up of Chaos Eldar of all kinds and hordes of Ghost Warriors, now animated not by Eldar souls but by bound Daemons. Like the Black Crusades of the Forgefather, Black Crusades from the New Eldar Empire had massive chaos disguising an objective. It is not known what the specifics of the First Black Crusades objective was, but it is believed that a famous sword on Morda Prime, home of Imperial Knight House Lucaris, was the target.

And so the Empires part in the long war continued. The occasional Black Crusade made it necessary for the Word Bearer Chapter known as the Astral Claws to be stationed on the Iron Cage. But there were many lesser search parties and attacks, and some names and deeds echo through history. One such being was the Corsair Galadhar the Grey, who corrupted the Exodite world of Duro to the worship of Khorne before the Night Lords destroyed him and the irredeemable Exodites and Duro. Many amongst the Mechanicus curse the day the forces of Black Ark Yme-Loc attacked the Forge World of Ryza, resulting in the destruction of many STC's. And the deeds of Alastor will echo through the universe until the end of time.

* * *

Alastor, the vox daemon

in m38, the world of new Orpheus was wracked by a series of horrible murders. so horrible were these deaths that the inquisitorial acolytes believed a traitorous night lord was responsible. but the truth was that a eldar by the name of Alastor was responsible. A beloved vox host, responsible for the popular vox show Alastor's hour, he was a eldar raised by humans and beneath suspicion. He killed over 30 people before he was discovered by accident and was torn apart by cyber-mastiff servitors. However, such was the depravity of the murders, and the fact that mere boredom motivated his murders caused the dark gods to raise him to the status of Daemon Prince.

Alastor quickly toppled chaos lords and rulers who had been dominant for millennia, then broadcast the carnage all throughout the warp storms so all could witness his power. He quickly gained the title of the vox daemon and is known as an unpredictable force of evil whose only motive is entertainment. Many cults have sprung up around Alastor, created by people who have listened to Alastor's hour, some copies of which has gained a chaotic corruptive property after his ascension. Despite inquisitorial efforts, tapes and recordings of Alastor's hour have survived. This is not because of chaos power (though there is some minor daemonic influence) but because of its popularity. It's unique format, a mixture of music and very popular shows such as Niffty and friends (a sitcom about a maid working in a sisterhood of battle monastery), the adventures of captain husker (an adventure/comedy about the titular captain husker, a rogue trader with a gambling problem, a love of cheap booze and always having a new get rich quick scheme), the officio (a work comedy about a misfit band of imperial assassins) and of course the happy hotel (a drama comedy about a living saint trying to redeem mutants in the titular establishment) made it the most popular vox show in the imperium. Copies of Alastor's hour have been found everywhere from the Jericho reach to Holy Terra itself. Making it worse is the unpredictable nature of the corruption, many tapes being harmless and their destruction resulting in the revenge killing of many inquisition acolytes. as such, Alastor is considered a mighty and unpredictable threat.

* * *

But the biggest victory of the New Eldar Empire came very recently, for in the 992nd year of the 41st millennium the empire gained the fourth cronesword and a new Black Ark. Craftworld Iyanden had been a loyalist Craftworld and boasted the highest population of the Craftworlds. This however, bred arrogance and pride comes before the fall. They believed themselves equal to any threat the universe could breed, and in fact they were equal to the threats of the galaxy. But the Tyranids are not of this galaxy, and a tendril of Hive Fleet Kraken found Iyanden.

* * *

The Tyranids

One of the biggest threats to life in the galaxy, the Tyranids come from the Andromeda Galaxy (according to the reverse trajectory of the Hive Fleets). Little is known about the Tyranids, not even what they call themselves. Indeed, the name Tyranid comes from the world of Tyran, the first world that fell victim to their hunger. It was the now treasonous Inquisitor Kryptman who first encountered the Tyranids. To date, three hive fleets have attacked the Imperium, with debate raging as to the identity of supposed Tyranid fleets arriving as early as M35.

The first Hive Fleet was Behemoth, and it inevitably met its end when it plunged into the Ruinstorm. It is unknown why it entered the domain of the Ultramarines, given the Tyranids are immune to chaos, generating a shadow in the Warp, but it did. The second was Hive Fleet Kraken, a tendril of which engaged with an Ultramarine Black Crusade. The third was Hive Fleet Leviathan, where the horrible event known as Kryptman's Gamble occurred. Kryptman believed that the Hive Fleet could be stopped without the loss of Imperium life, but his proposed solution of luring the Tyranids into conflict with the Orks was rejected, as all future seers saw the birth of the New Devourer, a horrible race with the strengths of both Tyranid and Ork. It was here the Kryptman went from radical to traitor, allying himself with the Chaos Lord Uriel Ventris and causing the Hive Fleet to engage the Ork empire of Octavius.

In addition to the power of the Hive Fleets which can adapt to anything, there are the Genestealer Cults. These cults are composed of hybrids of human and Tyranid, and not even Holy Terra itself is free of Genestealers. As if it couldn't get any worse, there is a truly horrible fact, one that has caused many servants of the Imperium to take their own lives. It has been deduced recently that the Hive Fleets are in fact the vanguard for the main Tyranid horde.

* * *

It was the power of the Tyranids that nearly annihilated Iyanden, but then came their salvation, or rather Damnation. It came in the form of Prince Yriel and the Eldritch Raiders. The Corsair lord had been banished for stealing the Spear of Twilight from the vaults, and with its damning touch he had become devoted to Slannesh. He spoke to the Farseer council of his world, promising them salvation as long as they swore loyalty to the New Eldar Empire. In desperation they did, and their Infinity Circuit became empty of souls, replaced by the Ynneadlings that animate the Ghost Warriors of the empire. After the tendril was destroyed the new Black Ark made its way to the Maelstrom. Where it to reach the Maelstrom at full strength it would wreck the Iron Cage. Luckily they were stopped by Lufgt Huron and the Astral Claws.

Lufgt Huron, the hero of Badab, was a Son of Horus who had gained a unique honor amongst Astartes, a Warrant of Trade. It was his genius in banishing the Daemon known as the Hamadrya that granted him this honor. When his ships Astropath heard of Iyanden's warpath he rushed to save his home-system of Badab. With the aid of the Astral Claws he managed to inflict heavy casualties on the already ragged Chaos Eldar forces, destroying hordes of Ghost Warriors. Indeed he nearly killed Yriel but was caught off guard by a meltabomb used by the Corsair. Half of his body had to be rebuilt, and by the eighth day of the process he could speak and on the twelfth day he could walk again. He was given command over an Astartes faction much like the Deathwatch, which he named the Red Corsairs, after a Corsair band that had helped him early during his time in the Koronus Reach. It was to remind him and everyone that not all Corsairs were bad.

The addition of Iyanden to the New Eldar Empire was small potatoes compared to the Spear of Twilight, which was confirmed to be the fourth cronesword. The realization that the croneswords could take other forms had caused many new expeditions to be launched. In addition, word from the Ruinstorm is that Yvraine now works with Arch-Heretek Cawl to resurrect Roboute Guilliman.

Homeworlds

To the Eldar of the Empire, they believe they control all the worlds of the universe. In reality, they control many worlds in the Maelstrom where the traitorous wych cults and Haemonculi Covens practice their arts. But it is the Black Arks that are the true homeworlds of the New Eldar Empire, the twisted center of the horrible empire. These corrupted Craftworlds are no longer made of Wraithbone, all of it having long ago rotted away. Indeed, you would be hard pressed to find a single example of Wraithbone in the New Eldar Empire. Instead it is Ghastbone that replaces Wraithbone, the skeletons of the Black Arks have been replaced piece by piece with this twisted substance. Wraithbone was designed to repel warp entity's, where Ghastbone attracts them. Indeed, Ghastbone rots very quickly and repair teams of Eldar Ghastsingers, xenos and even Hereteks eternally scurry across the Black Ark to ensure it stays stable. While the Craftworlds glow the beautiful blue of Wraithbone, the Black Arks emit the sickly green glow of Ghastbone. In addition, each Black Ark has signs of its history, for the rule of symbolism is the only law that the Warp has that is not constantly broken by its own nature.

Biel-Tan is the first Black Ark, and even though the skeleton of Wraithbone is long gone it still bears the scars of the Yncarnes birth. Fittingly, it is in three pieces, each ruled by one of the ruling triad, connected by lines of Ghastbone that rot extremely fast even by the standards of the accursed substance. Indeed, some whisper that the only thing holding Biel-Tan together is the will of Ynnead. This splitting occurred sometime in between the announcement and the first black crusade, when the Wraithbone first started to rot. The three sections are very different, Yvraines section being devoted to worship of Ynnead and training priests, the Visarchs section being devoted to training Aspect warriors not corrupted to Khorne, and the Yncarne's section is inhabited by him alone, where he sits upon Khaines throne eternally conversing with Ynnead.

Iyanden is the newest Black Ark, and indeed the skeleton of Wraithbone can still be seen in some areas. It is a shrinking thing thought, and in a few months of real time it will rot away, the animating power of a Craftworld lost the moment it accepted Yriels aid and the constant Daemon attacks of the warp storm it inhabits. But even when Ghastbone is the only substance of Iyanden it will still resemble a still under construction space station, with many places exposed to the ever-changing void. Iyanden is now truly a world of wraiths, having only Ghost Warriors as inhabitants. The surviving Eldar are part of the Eldritch Raiders, who only visit there home to resupply and rest.

Alsansar is the only Black Ark that moves, doing an orbit of the Maelstrom its surface covered in augury arrays and twisted viewing towers. It eternally spies upon the Iron Cage, sending corrupted machine spirits to attack the various gateway devices. It sends forth horrible nightmares to afflict the defenders, for all sentient life must sleep. They show them either the monsters the eldar were before the fall or the horrors of the fall. Frequently, the humans give into the paranoia caused by the nightmares and attack the eldar aiding them. No number of wards can prevent these twisted dreams from afflicting the defenders, and the cogitators and other devices frequently malfunction because of the tech-dijjn sent by this unholy ark. Alsansar's inhabitants are strange in that none of the eldar ever remove their helmets or speak, and many claim that they made a deal with Ynnead before it even had a name. Alsansar is hated both in the new empire and without, the craftworlds knowing it as the fallen home of one of the phoenix lords and the empire distrusting its undead state that keeps it in orbit.

Yme-Loc is a dark forge world, eternally shrouded in the pollution generated by the unholy forges that cover the planet. Corrupted Eldar, daemon smiths, hereteks and other less definable beings all labor to craft so many things. It was Yme-Loc that created Ghastbone, and from that fundamental building block countless horrors have spawned. Some say that the Masters of the Forge travel to Yme-Loc to learn its secrets, while others say they consider the Black Ark to be an upstart rival fit only for destruction. The smiths of Yme-Loc do not work only in metal, mixing in flesh and energies of the warp in their creations. All of the Daemon engines used by the New Eldar Empire can trace their origins to one of the forges of Yme-Loc, as can the vast majority of ships and weapons. But it is not only the New Eldar Empire that benefits, for the strange xenos species of the Baator Empire known as the Bibilava purchase some items from Yme-Loc. More specifically the strange beings known as the Elemental Smiths have their forge on Yme-Loc, and they create the armor and weapons of the Lahimatoa. As with most corrupted forge worlds should someone be able to pay for their wares can purchase them. And like an imperial forge world they are defended by knights, as four twisted clans of chaos pilot horrible mismatched knights made of unnatural fusions of metal and flesh. these are the corpulent sable-claw clan of Nurgle, the savage nightfury clan of Khorne, the devious swifthorn clan of Tzeench and the decadant sea-talon clan of Slannesh.

Il-Kaithe is an eternally damaged world, as the Daemon exarchs of Khorne's eldar fight at a rate not easily fixed by the repair teams. Il-Kaithe was once the most dedicated fighters against the dark gods, but with this endless war they were corrupted by the blood god. The aspect paths of the new empire frequently making their home here, for they are dedicated to the ancient arts of war. Without the protection of a god, the aspect paths are at a large risk of falling to the blood god. The Visarch sees this world as a danger, for Ynnead will need the might of the aspect paths to aid it.

Lugganath is a horrible place, the Black Ark of Slannesh, and here the decadence that caused the fall is repeated forever. Lugganath was corrupted when it turned it's back on the material and abandoned the paths. These were insanely bad decisions as the paths were made to resist Slannesh and the retreat from galactic affairs was part of what caused the old empire to become decedent in the extreme. Here flock the corrupted Harlequinns and Corsair fleets, still a haven for outcasts even in hell. The repair teams endlessly seek to fix the damage inflicted upon Lugganath during the Shattering, when the Emperor's Children attacked the Craftworld in their eternal war against Slannesh. 30 Sonic Marines sacrificed their lives to allow their brothers to escape, and even now 10,000 years later the damage can still be seen.

Iybraesil is a world of witches, unholy magic and plots against all other beings originating here. The Howling Banshees not corrupted by Khorne or Ynnead make their base here, corrupted instead by Tzeentch. There legends tell of a deal with Morai-Heg, and seven times seven of their warriors became the handmaidens of the crone so their sisters may be blessed. While the deal with Tzeench supersedes that, the remnants of this deal can be seen in the fact that there is a disproportionately high female population. During the heresy a new deal was made with what they believed to be the true architect of fate, Tzeentch, and nine times nine of their warriors became the handmaidens of Tzeentch in exchange for being the favored servants of Tzeentch. And they were blessed as every member of this world that didn't follow the path of the banshee became sorcerers and warlocks of much power. They work eternally to give Tzeentch victory in the Great Game, even braving the crone worlds to find artifacts that will tip the balance in the favor of Tzeentch.

Mymerara is very much like the mansion of their patron god Nurgle. By all rights it should have rotted away long ago yet it still stands. In fact, uniquely amongst the Black Arks no repair teams scurry trying to hold it together. They were touched by Nurgle when they were sent into the galactic wilderness, surviving impossible odds and focusing only on the past. It was the despair of believing them the last of their kind and there turning to their past that made Nurgle sympathize with them, and he claimed them as his when they joined the new empire. Much like the Space Wolves they show no outwards signs of Nurgles "Love" save for being incredibly tough. No, there sickness is mostly in the mind. Where the Space Wolves hypocrisy and refusal to see the truth has been enhanced by Nurgles touch, in Mymerara's eldar it is there focus on the past. They focus on the empire before the corruption that led to the fall and when the gods walked the earth.

Beliefs

The worship of Ynnead can seem like a paradox to those who know of it. After all it was housed in the Infinity Circuits of the Craftworlds, but Eldrads ritual has succeeded in banishing the warp entity into the warp. Shouldn't Ynnead have been consumed by Slannesh? Those of the new empire claim that Ynnead is trapped between life and death and once the croneswords are recovered they will call Ynnead forth and bring victory to the empire. Those of the inquisition and the seer councils have two theories, which are either Ynnead is still in the embryonic stage and thus cannot be devoured by Slannesh or She Who Thirsts is being prevented from consuming Ynnead by one of the other chaos gods, much like how Nurgle prevents Slannesh from consuming Isha even as he feeds her every disease he concocts. Those eldar corrupted by the other chaos gods or by chaos undivided can have their beliefs summed up as this; they believe that if they follow the whims of their gods then the glory of the empire will be reborn.

Organization

The new eldar empire is not organized in most senses. Much like all chaos organizations it is a rivalry ridden cesspool of corruption, with only a stronger being keeping the others in line. The ruling triad are possessed of the might of Ynnead, a being on par with the chaos gods. In this sense alone can they be called an empire, with the Yncarne at its center. From them the organization becomes divided into the Black Arks, the twisted Pipers that were once the Harlequinns, the wych cults, the fleshsmith covens, the exiled kabals, the bands of corsairs and the twisted aspect paths.

Combat doctrine

The combat style of the new eldar empire varies based on what forces are fought. The aspect paths retain their style of combat, as do the wych cults. Corsairs hit hard and fast, and the only notable deviation is when a member of the ruling triad leads a Black Crusade. These Black Crusades are aimed at finding one of the croneswords and as such the eldar fight to make sure imperial forces cannot interfere with the process. The relatively small number of Eldar compared to other species means that the empire normally goes to war aided by many Ghost Warriors, animated not by the souls of the dead but by the neverborn of Ynnead.

A notable ability the Ynnari possess is the ability to use the souls of the dead in a way similar to the Harbingers of Iustitia, those of the Thousand Sons who journey to the remnants of Prospero and become champions of the Rubric. The Harbingers use the ghosts of Prospero for many effects, and harness untainted warp essence to do so. The Ynnari merely create echoes of soul's hat either served the ruinous powers or fought against them, nothing more than common necromancy. This does nothing to dissuade the critics of the Thousand Sons.

Recruitment and escape

The New Eldar Empire suffers the same problem as the rest of the Eldar race, namely they are a dying race. They use many Ghost Warriors and force grown clones to counter this, but they also gain new recruits from various naïve or corrupt Eldar who seek the old empires glory. Much like the cultists of Kor Phareon they do not use rituals provided for them by Thrice-Damned Janus, instead creating temporary connections between worlds much like the Webway but made of Ghastbone. The natural Daemon attracting properties of Ghastbone these links are inherently unstable and never last long.

Warcry

when the New Eldar Empire uses warcrys, they typically either use the stereotypical crys of there gods or such shouts as, "For the Empire!" or, "Ynnead will arise."

* * *

Authors notes

Alright, third chapter is up. Here's how the universe is gonna change at large with these chaos eldar, plus some random observations. These are not in any form of order

Vect is still gonna be ruler of the Dark Eldar, despite the fact that the Cult of Strife is chaos corrupted. I see his rise happening much like in canon, but it's a Salamander warband and the wych cult he has close ties with is the Cult of the Denied Blade. I was looking through my 8ed dark eldar codex to find a replacement for the Cult of Strife, and they stuck out to me. They are an elder witch house, and their whole modus operatus is taking an enemy's weapon and felling them with it. That fits with Vects rebellion, as the wych cults are the weapons of the noble houses.

The Sonic Marines are loyalist Noise Marines, the Noise Marines are those who followed Bile.

As for why I made Ynnead a bad guy, well it never sat well with me. I mean the Lords of Order in fantasy were bad guys, and Ynnead sounds like a lord of order to me. That title and the term Black Arks comes from Warhammer fantasy. Also, the first review I got for this had me make a better explanation as to why the lords of order serve chaos. It's a combination of faulty logic like what turned the cabal, and the nature of chaotic corruption. I think I got Lorgar's quote from somewhere, but I don't remember where.

For the Red Corsairs, I found Huron cool and decided to adapt him and the Red Corsairs.

The Matrons come from LordLucans arrested fall story, it's the term for eldar robots. Ghastbone comes from nobledark imperium

Alastor is an outright reference to Alastor from hazbin hotel. I only really watch the second half of the pilot episode, when Alastor is introduced.

For that little scene concerning the wider events of Ynneads banishment I took inspiration from the Robutian Heresy, which is where a lot of inspiration for this project comes from. The Harrowing will never get detailed, because no one knows what it is. But once again, the Alpha Legion has saved the galaxy from a threat unknown to the wider Imperium. Also I know the harrowing was freed in M32, but I want my version to happen in M33. Ok, actually, my harrowing is going to be unleashed during M36. this change in the lore comes from the fact that all of the organizations that could have stopped the rise of Goge Vandire were distracted by the enemy's outside. Each of the legions distractions are gonna be detailed in there chapters, while the custodies are either the unmoving companions or fighting in the webway. And I realized I needed a reason for the Alpha Legion to be distracted, so I chose the Harrowing. Also M36 is farther away in time from M31 than M33 is, so it works.

For the Solitaries, I admire them. I mean they stay loyal despite being hated by the rest of the galaxy and being literally damned. That whole eldar committing suicide if they accidentally talk or just bump into a solitarie is canon. The fact that they stay loyal is admirable, but I wanted a reason for them to stay loyal in my 40k verse. So the Word Bearers are there friends, but the main reason they stay loyal is gonna be described in the Word Bearers chapter, cause the meetings between the two are scarce.

For the Astral Claws being a Word Bearer chapter, I just felt it might be a constellation of Clothis. Astral Claws brings stars to my mind.

For the Tyranids, I want them coming from the Andromeda Galaxy. I don't know if that's where they come from in canon, but that's where they come from here.

For the Harbingers, it is the influence of the Robutian heresy again.


	4. Index Astartes - Emperors Children

Index Astartes – Emperors Children: Scions of Tragedy

The third legion has had many hardships over its term of service. When they left Terra they were cursed with the Blight that nearly killed them, and during the first battle of the Heresy they lost their father Fulgrim. Through the heresy they fought against the traitors amongst their own ranks, led by the Arch-Renegade Fabius Bile. During the Scouring they fought against the Black Legion, whose core is made from the twisted Clones of Primarchs both loyal and traitorous made by the twisted genius of the Clonelord Fabius Bile. During the Abyssal Crusade they let their hatred of Bile nearly destroy them, and this mistake was repeated during the Age of Apostacy. But like the Phoenix that they bear as their emblem they rise from the ashes of their past, and the enemies of man fear the wraith of these Astartes. They eternally follow the path of perfection, knowing full well that it is an impossible goal. They especially hate the servants of Slannesh, and the beings born of Fabius Bile, for Slannesh corrupts through the things that the Emperors Children endorse and every sin that Bile commits is another slander on the honorable sons of Chemos.

Origins

It is only the nature of sentient life to seek perfection, but perfection is an impossible goal. After all, there will always be someone who is better than someone else, and there will always be room for improvement. In addition, the life of a mortal is finite, either succumbing to old age or to the myriad dangers of the hostile galaxy. And sadly, those who believe they have reached perfection are typically monsters. The Old Eldar Empire believed they reached perfection, and their hubris and decadence birthed Slannesh, and those chaotic bands that serve Slannesh in the Eye of Terror are horrible monsters despite their claims of perfection. But for those who realize that the pursuit of perfection is an endless path then it will lead to endless betterment. Such is the example provided by Fulgrim and his legion.

The world of Chemos, upon which Fulgrim landed, was hit especially hard by the Age of Strife. It was running out of resources, and things like art and culture had been sacrificed to ensure the survival of its people. No drain on resources was allowed, it even went so far that orphans were killed rather than have them be a burden. It was on this world that Fulgrim landed, and he was found by three laborers who were sent to investigate a meteorite strike. They found the gestation pod and Fulgrim, who even as a mere child was absolutely beautiful, so much so that not even the hardest hearted of his discoverers could bear to harm the child despite the decrees of the factory overlords that they served. Seeing the fact that a ground water stream was discovered by the impact of the child's pod, one of the laborers named the infant after the water bringer god of Chemosian creation myth, Fulgrim.

Fulgrim grew fast, as was typical of Primarchs. Any who tried to claim he should be killed as a burden were soon silenced by the fact that he did twice as much work as the average worker despite being half their age. At fifteen he had become ruler of the factor at which he had worked, and soon the natural genius and strength that all Primarchs possessed meant he soon became the ruler of Chemos. Indeed, he managed to reverse the downward spiral Chemos had been trapped in and resurrected art and culture, for with the desperation of limited resources gone true civilization could flourish once more. Chemos was once more a beautiful place, the haven of art and culture it had been before the Age of Strife.

However such beauty soon attracted unwelcome attention, and Chemos came under attack. The Togos were a Slannesh corrupted species, all of which were hideous hybrids of a human and a peacock, each possessing beautiful feathers and hideous bird heads and claws. Once they were a noble culture, but with the creation of the Erdeniin they had fallen into decadence just like the Old Eldar Empire. The Erdeniin were artificial constructs made of hard light with a computer center in the form of a jewel, and their various castes did the jobs that the Togos did not. It was soon into the Age of Strife that they became corrupted, regarding only themselves as truly sentient beings. They had become corrupted by Slannesh even as the chaos gods was being born, and they launched various attacks on other species. There method of attack was horrible, launching devices known as Tarilga that then created new Erdeniin while killing the planet it was on. The aftermath of a Togos colonization can be compared to the aftermath of a Tyranid attack, but one Word Bearer who heard this comparison was quoted as saying, "No, the Togos were worse. At least the Tyranids leave a lifeless rock behind." Indeed, when a Togos colony has been drained of all its resources they leave the world behind, which then collapses into a broken hunk of useless rock. When the Fall occurred the Togos were amongst those xenos species who had been dealt a death blow as Slannesh consumed their souls. Only a few hundred Togos and a few thousand Erdeniin survived, and they began to hunt the galaxy as true servants of Slannesh.

A mere 49 years after Fulgrim landed upon Chemos the Togos launched their attack. They had been hunted by the Imperium, with the fleet dedicated to exterminating them being led by the Emperor himself. They had escaped by leaving 5,000 Erdeniin and 20 Togos sorcerers to hold them off, and they decided to attack the now resource rich world of Chemos. The full force landed on Chemos, with the Empress of the Togos lounging in her crystal palanquin, exposed in her twisted form of Slanneshi beauty. Soon reports of hostile xenos seemingly draining the planet of life reached the ears of Fulgrim, and he began a crusade to destroy this blight that sought to undo all that he had done.

This war lasted a little over a year, and throughout that year Fulgrim gained a hatred of those who let themselves become monsters in the pursuit of perfection. Fulgrim had learned from the Togos and the Erdeniin that the Togos believed themselves perfect. It was through the exploitation of flaws in their systems that most of the victory's the Chemosians gained were won. A mere few weeks after Fulgrim's 50th birthday, his birthday marked by when he was discovered, that he had destroyed all the Erdeniin and he confronted the last of the Togos. The Empress and her consorts were all that remained of the species, and the Tarilga had long ago fallen silent, having no one left to work them.

* * *

The creature hadn't stopped pleasuring herself even as she sent her consorts to stop him. This fact made Fulgrim want to wretch, as her moans of ecstasy sounded even as her lovers died at the hand of his blade were just sickening. As the last of her consorts died she seemed to snap back to reality, and she squawked, "Now you may take their place." Fulgrim vomited a little in his mouth, and prepared a grenade to destroy the crystal palanquin this thing rode in. She seemed to realize what was happening and screeched, "No! The Togos cannot die! We are perfect!" Fulgrim lobbed the grenade and as the Empress died in a fiery explosion he spoke a single truth, that would echo throughout history and define the sons he didn't know he had, "No one is perfect."

* * *

Fulgrim sent efforts to destroy the Tarilga, and soon after they were melted down and annihilated the Imperium arrived on Chemos. The forces of the Imperium were glorious to Fulgrim, for these warriors had not only survived the Age of Strife intact, they had kept there civilization intact as well. The Emperor of Mankind met Fulgrim, who bowed and swore his allegiance to the being who was obviously his father.

The Great Crusade

"Hear me my sons, we are not just warriors but bearers of civilization. Much like my own home of Chemos you have suffered much, and like my home of Chemos we shall rise from the ashes, like the phoenix of myth. We shall bring liberation to the innocents and destroy the monsters that have arisen from the darkness. We shall walk the endless path to perfection, for there will always be someone better than you and there is always room for improvement. Those who believe themselves perfect are self-deceptive beings at best and monsters at the worst. We are the Emperors Children, and we shall bring death to his foes!"

extract from Fulgrim's speech upon taking command.

The third legion was composed of sons of noble families that the Emperor conquered in what was Europa, and their background drove them to excellence. Amongst their victories in the unification wars was the freeing of Milian from the Stitchwraiths, men of iron once meant to showcase very fashionable clothes but driven insane by the corruption of Slannesh, skinning humans and wearing them like suits. However, they seemed to show the influence of their gene-father, as did the other legions. They did necessary jobs that were lacking in glory, namely leading the imperial army. This is in part as to why most of their early victories go unrecorded. But there is a much darker reason, one that could have destroyed the third legion had Fulgrim not been found in time.

This reason lay in a simple fact about the Emperors gene-forged armies. While all of his designs were born in the laboratories beneath the Imperial Palace, from the warp forged might of the Primarchs to the savage brutishness of the Thunder Warriors, from the shadow alchemy of the Legio Custodes to the industrial geneforging of the Legions, many wonders beyond the understanding of any person that has come before or since were born here. But for the ultimate goal of conquering the galaxy the Emperors gene forges were not enough. Mass production was needed, and for that the Emperor looked to Luna.

Luna is the only natural satellite of Terra and was the first place that mankind had gone when they began space travel. The inhabitants of Luna were the Selenar gene cults, and it was unknown how old they were. They had the resources that the Emperor needed to truly conquer the galaxy, and so he sent three of the legions against them. It was during the first lunar compliance that the Sons of Horus earned their first name, the Luna Wolves. This was originated in the governor of Luna begging the Emperor to call off his wolves. But once again events of great importance are hidden in what is chalked up to human error. As an old adage from Terra's past says, "Those forced to work at the point of a weapon are poor servants." A group of Selenar refused to serve the Emperor and attempted to destroy the gene seeds sent to Luna that would form the true legions. They only managed to poison the third legion before those Selenar who valued their lives destroyed them in the second lunar compliance, but this manifested in the Blight. Indeed, only a mere 200 Astartes of Fulgrim's lineage were alive by the time of the Primarchs finding. One of these Astartes had worked feverishly to find a cure for the Blight in case Fulgrim had not survived or was not found in time. He was promoted to chief apothecary, and his name is cursed throughout the Imperium to this day. This man was Fabius Bile.

* * *

Fabius Bile

Many titles are given to this servant of Ruin. The Clonelord, the Pater Mutatis, the Arch-Renegade, the Manflayer, the Primogenitor and more are the names by which Fabius Bile are known. He is unique amongst the servants of ruin in that he does not worship the dark gods or even acknowledge their power. The original Bile died long ago, but thousands of clones that bear his memories, genius and very soul live on to plague existence. Indeed, the inner circle of the Consortium that leads the Black Legion is made up of the hive mind that are the clones of Bile. Despite his horrors, it can truthfully be said that only the Emperor surpasses him in gene forging skills. In addition, Biles goal are ultimately good. When he committed his first atrocities before Fulgrim's discovery, it was all to cure the Blight. All atrocities afterwards are all to create an enhanced form of humanity, a New Man that can survive the galaxy untainted by chaos. However, his New Men are completely ruthless, having none of the good qualities of mankind and all of the bad. While the New Men are stronger, faster and smarter than the average human, they are completely sociopathic and have nothing of empathy or goodness inside them. Indeed, the only positive emotion they can be said to have is a love for their father Fabius Bile. Interestingly, Bile doesn't see himself surviving to see his twisted New Men replacing humanity.

There are rare examples of a New Man exhibiting a conscience and a conventional sense of morality. They rarely survive beyond childhood, there sense of right and wrong being seen as a weakness. But those rare few who survive and manage to escape usually go to the Imperium, where they are quickly found by the Inquisition. They become acolytes, there sense of goodness and their enhancement putting them on the fast track to becoming an Inquisitor. This practice has its origins in the clone wars, when one such "True New Man" saved Abbadon from a clone of Horus that wielding Drach'nyen, and while Abbadon would eventually meet his end by the hands of Forgefather He'stan wielding Drach'nyen, he would use his position as a high lord to implement this policy.

* * *

Upon taking control of his legion, which was now on the upswing due to his stabilizing genetic pattern, he named them the Emperors Children in what can be only described as joy. Other important imperials believed that this decision was motivated by pride, and upon hearing this Fulgrim made their emblem the Phoenix instead of the Aquilla as he had originally planned. However, while his legion rebuilt itself he and his forces fought alongside Horus and his legion. The bonds between these two brothers are shared even to this day.

Another brother with which Fulgrim shared a friendship with was Ferrus Manus. They met in the forges of Mars and dared each other to make a weapon worthy of a Primarch. Fulgrim created the mighty thunder hammer known as Forgebreaker while Manus created the perfectly balanced power sword known as Fireblade. Each declared the other the victor, and a friendship was forged that would break upon the black sands of Istvaan, when Ferrus used the very weapon Fulgrim had forged for him to decapitate the Primarch. Forgebreaker would eventually make its way into the hands of Perturabo, where it is still used by the Iron Warriors in the modern day, while Lucius the Eternal would rescue Fireblade along with Fulgrim's body.

Eventually, the Emperors Children would gain enough numbers to fight on its own, and many victories would be won by the Chemosian Astartes. Amongst their victories included the freeing of Nimar from the wraith lords that had terrorized it throughout the Age of Strife, aiding the Iron Warriors in the destruction of the Hrud who made their home on Mundi, destroying the flesh smiths of Talazar, and working with the World Eaters to free the populace of Saharna from the maddened gladiator games that enslaved them. But one of the most notable of their victories, one that echoes down through history, is the destruction of the Laer.

It was soon after the Ullanor compliance that the Warmaster called upon Fulgrim and his legion to solve a problem that was troubling him. The Laer were a small stellar empire that had rejected the Imperium's offer of alliance or of protectorate status. Normally they would be ignored unless they made an outright attack upon the Imperium, but the horrible state inflicted upon the Imperial diplomats and the symbols of the divinity the Laer worshiped unsettled Horus, and Lorgar had begged his brother to send someone to destroy the xenos. So Horus called upon Fulgrim, and he promised that the Laer would be dead within a month.

The Laer were a twisted cosmic parody of the Emperors own gene forging skills, with each caste having its own genetic mutations. This reminded Fulgrim far too much of the Togos and the Erdeniin, causing him to fight all the harder. Indeed, the Laer and the Togos were corrupted by the same power, not that Fulgrim would ever know. When Bile showed an interest in the Laers genetic enhancements, Fulgrim publicly shamed him, much like the Emperor would do to Sanguinius when he discovered the Blood Angels worship of him. Eventually the Laers were forced to retreat to their temple world, which Fulgrim ordered to be bombed from orbit.

* * *

Fulgrim sat upon his throne aboard the Pride of the Emperor (he had to have it renamed at some point, maybe something like the Phoenix's Ashes or Chemos's Rebirth) considering the full ramifications of his actions. Some of his brothers might see his actions as cowardly, saying he should have fought the Laer's overlord face to face. But his instincts told him that should he go down there he would be leading himself and his sons down the path of damnation. Besides, what was the point of engaging the Laers face to face, maybe to loot some heretical xenos artifacts or useless battle. Besides, he had promised Horus he would destroy the Laer in a month, and he would keep his word. As the cyclonic torpedoes rent the Laer homeworld asunder the warp echoed the screams of rage from a goddess denied.

* * *

A few months after the Laer compliance Fabius Bile's twisted new experiments were discovered, no longer meant to cure the Blight which had been wiped out by Fulgrim's discovery, but to create so called New Men. Bile escaped aboard the Pulchritudinous along with his servants, both Astarte and gene forged creations. Fulgrim dedicated part of his legion to finding Bile, while he and the majority of his legion continued its role in the Great Crusade. A few years after the destruction of the Laer, the unthinkable happened. Vulkan had turned traitor, and Corax and Ferrus Manus had turned with him.

The Heresy: the war in miniature

* * *

"Why brother, Why?"

last words of Fulgrim.

* * *

Fulgrim had entered into a rage unlike any other when he heard of Ferrus's betrayal. He couldn't comprehend the reason behind his brother's betrayal, but he was determined to either bring Ferrus to justice or if he could not be redeemed, then he would bring the head of Ferrus Manus to Horus as a trophy. He called his entire legion to assemble, even those who were dedicated to hunting Bile, and had them assemble at the Istvaan system. He was the first to arrive and began planning on how he would bring the traitors to heel. The lack of ships and other indicators of this being a trap escaped Fulgrim, so consumed with rage and sorrow was he. He declared that he would fight Ferrus and his legion, and none would gainsay him.

Upon the black sands of the Urgall Plateau, Fulgrim and his gene-sons fought against hordes of things that were meant to be wiped out in the Great Crusade. It was this conclave of horrors that made Fulgrim realize that his brother was irredeemable. They met in a duel, both wielding the weapon that the other had forged for them in simpler times, before all this had happened, before chaos had tainted Vulkan and the unholy nine. Fulgrim fought valiantly, but when the second wave revealed their true loyalties it caused Fulgrim to be distracted. He was pinned and his head removed by his brother, but not before uttering his famous last words. The death of Fulgrim was a shock to all who saw it and was truly the death of the ideals of the Great Crusade. With the death of a Primarch, the goodness of civilization of the Imperium was shattered. And it was the death of the Emperor that ensured the spark of hope would never reignite.

Indeed, it was unthinkable that a Primarch could truly die, as the only example that could reliably be proven was Vulkan, and he was a Perpetual. It was believed that the Primarchs were blessed with true immortality, not just the biological immortality granted to all of the Emperor genetically enhanced warriors save the Thunder Warriors. Even the Forgotten Ones were believed immortal, each having met their end at the hand of forces that not even perpetuals could survive. And while Forgebreaker was a mighty weapon, forged by the very Primarch whose life it had stolen, it was not a weapon that could kill that which could not die. This proved beyond a shadow of a doubt that the Primarchs were in fact mortal, or rather they could be killed.

In addition, the death of a Primarch had disastrous effects on the Legion whose geneseed it bears. Space Marines are actually genetically predisposed to loving and obeying there Primarch, and while they can still choose their own paths the majority of the Legion will follow their father, even into damnation. So powerful is this phenomena that even a clone of said Primarch, should they be sufficiently close to the original, can cause the gene sons of the original to be unable to fight back or outright enrage them enough that they will lose all tactical cohesion. Examples include the near death of Abbadon during the clone wars, the Abyssal Crusade of M34, the actions of the Emperors children during the Age of Apostacy, and the war of the fake Horus. This is a part of what makes the Black Legion so dangerous, for while the inner consortium that is Fabius Bile directs the overall flow of the Black Legion it is the Primarch clones that command the day by day details of the warbands. Indeed, where it not for the very existence of the so called "False Kings" these crippling blows to the Imperium would not have happened.

Unless a capable leader takes immediate command of the legion it will fracture, and even then it will never truly follow anyone but the Primarch. At best, a ruler can gain control of the majority of the legion. This is best explified in the Traitor Legions, which all fractured almost immediately after there Primarchs left them, either ascending to Daemonhood, being destroyed or just plain missing. When Vulkan was annihilated the Salamanders fractured and ran, and Forgefather He'stan only commands about half of them. When Jagatai Khan disappeared the four riders took over, but again they rule over half the legion. When Leman Russ entered his coma, only one of the thirteen great companies stayed with him. Corvis Corax has not led his legion since the Siege of Terra, when he was banished and ascended to his current role as a Daemon Primarch/chaos spawn. Even those traitorous Primarchs whose location is known and who can command their sons do not do so. Instead they rule their little slices of hell, brooding upon sins real or imagined that were committed thousands of years ago or playing the Great Game of Chaos that divided the Dark Gods even when they fought against the Emperor. The loyalist legions are more resistant to this, able to establish a command structure quickly and not fracturing, but it is still a blow to moral. However, the only reason why the Emperors Children didn't break was the quick thinking of Fulgrim's Equerry and the first legion master, the space marine known as Lucius the Eternal.

* * *

Lucius the Eternal

Of all the sainted Astartes, Lucius is one of the most famous, up there with Abbadon and Ahriman. He gained the position of Equerry for his heroism during the Laer compliance, in which he gained his famous facial scars. His title of Eternal stemmed from his seemingly undying nature, leading many of the traitors to seek the weapons that could kill Perpetuals. These futile quests all ended with the chaotic warbands seeking these weapons falling into loyalist traps or attacking other traitor warbands.

The truth of the matter is that Lucius was not a Perpetual, indeed no Astartes is a Perpetual. This lies in the nature of the Geneseed, as it cannot enhance any being who is not of the human male gender that is more than two standard deviations from the genetic norm that is not been finalized in body and mind. In plain Low Gothic, this means that only male children can become Space Marines. Females, adults, true mutants, abhumans, xenos, Biles New Men and Perpetuals are all incompatible with geneseed implantation. In addition, while Astartes can gain mutations after their true ascension, the very nature of Perpetualhood means that this true immortality must be present at birth.

The seemingly undying nature of Lucius lies in two factors, his extraordinarily fast healing and his pure determination. Many times the only thing that allowed him to survive was his determination to see both Ferrus Manus and Fabius Bile dead for their crimes against his Primarch. He met his death at the end of the Clone Wars, when he learned that Ferrus Manus had ascended to Daemonhood and Fabius Bile had become the hive mind of the inner consortium, a sentient plague upon the universe. His last actions were to trigger the twin hacks of causing the clones and robots to turn against the traitor Astartes and to cause the base to self-destruct. But his legacy still lives on, as those amongst the Emperor's Children who display a combination of determination and fast healing similar to the eternal are said to be "Blessed by Lucius".

* * *

The first actions of Lucius were to save Fulgrim's body and reclaim Forgebreaker, which would eventually become the weapon of Perturabo. He wielded Fireblade and inflicted some damage on the stunned Ferrus before leading the Emperors Children to retreat. He made sure to see that Fulgrim's body was returned to Chemos and was about to dedicate his legion to the shadow war and reinforcing the solar system when a new threat arose.

Bile had returned, and he was leading the Black Legion. This twisted mockery of a space marine legion was mostly composed of Biles genetic abominations and New Men, while the outer core was composed of true space marines. At the beginning of the Black Legion's history Bile was joined by those Astartes who he had saved from the Blight, and thus owed their loyalty to him more than to Fulgrim or the Emperor. These Astartes quickly fell to Slannesh, for they had never undergone the Wandering that ensures none of Fulgrim's gene-sons turn traitor, save those who were corrupted during the Abyssal crusade. They were quickly joined by renegades of every legion save the lost and the forgotten, marked as missing or killed in action to cover up the shame of their traitorous actions or outright heretical beliefs. And while Bile pursued his own goals, they were led by his false Primarchs. Biles agents had gathered DNA from every Primarch save the unspoken two, and with his genius he was able to create simulacrums of the Emperors sons. The most common were the clones of Fulgrim, as Biles own geneseed held a copy of Fulgrim's DNA. Lucius realized the Black Legion was a danger that would not truly act in concert with the orders of Vulkan. Much like the two cabals of chaos, the Black Legion followed the will of chaos. The rise and fall of the Arch-Traitor meant nothing to them save that the long war was entering a new stage.

Lucius led the Emperors Children against the Black Legion, and many times he dueled the Primarch clones and won, for while an Astartes could not fight a Primarch and win The Emperors true sons were infused with his godlike might and the power of the untainted warp, taken from the Chaos Gods by the Emperor when he claimed his birthright on Molech. As such, not even the False Kings, whose genetic were untainted by either the mutating touch of the warp or the natural errors of genetic cloning, were an equal to the true Primarch. Fireblade tasted the blood of many of these defective copies, and these battles entered the legends of the worlds. On Kreig, the legend of the Night Haunter's fall is told to children and upon Soth the Death Knight that arose from the blood of the Lion was beheaded by Fireblade. Myriad other battles between the Emperors Children and the Black Legion occurred during the Heresy. Indeed on the worlds where the Sonic Marines and the Noise Marines duel the people are born with hearing damage, despite the noises that once defeated the world having long since faded.

* * *

Sonic Marines

One of the first peaceful victories of the Emperors Children was on a nameless world where a xenos race of living song lived. After some initial translation errors a dialogue was established, they were peaceably integrated into the Imperium. In gratitude, the song xenos gave some of the Emperors Children pieces of crystal that was made into sonic weaponry. Thus were born the Sonic Marines, and they served remarkably ever since their inception during the Great Crusade. Amongst their greatest deeds is the Shattering, when 30 Sonic Marines sacrificed their lives to save the rest of their legion. The weaponry used by the Sonic Marines inevitably renders them deaf, and thus they communicate using sign language.

There chaotic counterpart is the Noise Marine, one and all servants of Slannesh. They have their origins in the Sonic Marines who followed Bile, and there fall to Slannesh happened upon the world of Maraviglia. It is unknown precisely what happened, but the Noise Marines became hypersensitive, regaining there hearing but becoming hypersensitive. They seek ever more indulgent sensations, using their sonic weaponry to kill indiscriminately.

* * *

Eventually, Lucius and the Emperors Children found the original Bile, and joined the other loyalists on the defense of Terra. Indeed, Bile set up various laboratories on Terra's surface, and his twisted monsters joined the traitor forces ravaging the Throneworld. When Vulkan was annihilated however Bile escaped with a great prize, the body of Horus Lupercal.

Post Heresy: the Clone Wars

Upon the storm wracked world of Kamonu, Bile and his consortium's xenos members unraveled the secrets of the DNA of Horus, and on Kamonu his newest army was born. A twisted parody of the Sons of Horus, these clone marines more closely resemble the Primaris marines born of Cawl's mad genius. Even to this day the clone marines make up the rank and file of the Black Legion, while the renegade Space Marines fill the role of sergeants and the Primarch clones form the role of general. Each clone marine is identical, about human in size and possessing a face identical to Horus. However, without the natural soul of a Primarch there visage is useless to them. Indeed, the clone marines are inferior to true Space Marines in most ways, lacking most of the extra organs or even a true geneseed. Indeed, they are closer to the Thunder Warriors than to the Space Marines, with the only notable difference being that clone marines can live as long as a human. However, the clone marines possess an advantage over the true Space Marines.

The clone marines are not trained, they are manufactured.

Where it takes at least a decade for a true Space Marine to be made, it takes mere months, or a year at max, for a new clone marine to be made. And on worlds like long dead Kamonu many genetic factories produce thousands of clone marines every day. In addition, they seem immune to mutation, though that is most likely due to the lack of individuality that is require for warp-based mutation to take a hold and Biles own genetic enhancements that make them immune to mutation born of the materium.

Kamonu was important because it was the base of the Black Legion before it truly relocated to the Eye of Terror. It was here that the body of Horus Lupercal was being kept, and it was here that Fabius Bile was meeting Ferrus Manus to discuss an alliance between the Black Legion and the Iron Hands. The Mournival and Lucius the Eternal led the combined forces of the Sons of Horus and the Emperors Children to this far off world with the hope of destroying both one of the traitor Primarchs and the Black Legion once and for all. However, while the body of Horus was destroyed by Abbadon, who was unwilling to let his father be a threat to the Imperium, and Kamonu was destroyed, Bile escaped with the genetic structure necessary for the creation of new clone marines and Ferrus Manus was revealed to be a Daemon Primarch, ascended by his actions during the burning of medusa.

However, it was the person who saved Abbadon who made the Clone Wars a victory for the Imperium. Her name was Emelia, and she was a New Man, one of Biles enhanced creations. She was the first of the "True New Men", those who had Biles enhancements yet still had a moral compass. She shared with the Imperium Biles ultimate goals and for her services gained the rank of Inquisitor. She served the Throne admirably for four hundred years before she sacrificed herself banishing the Yncarne and stopping a Black Crusade in its tracks. Even now Emelia is a patron saint for the redeemed, those who broke free of the taint of Chaos and found the light of the God Emperor.

Meanwhile Fabius Bile and the Black Legion found a place in the chaotic hierarchy. Much like the Chaos Assassins, the Dark Mechanicus and the Baator empire, the Black Legion and the Consortium provided services for all the Legions equally. In Biles Fleshmart new chaos legionaries were made, children cloned to be implanted with geneseed. In addition, hordes of clone marines could be purchased there. And Bile continued his unholy work to perfect his New Humanity, occasionally making Primarch clones when word reached him of a replacement needed. It was in the 34th millennium that he made 9 false kings and realized a perfect way to hurt the Imperium that constantly hindered his efforts.

Post Heresy: the Abyssal Crusade

The nine False Kings, known as the Dark Nine, led an attack on the Imperium, masterminded by Basillius who was born of Fulgrim's DNA. With the aid of many Stormseers they created the Warp Storm Dionys. They led thousands of clone marines in attacks on 30 chapter homeworlds, each of which belonged to one of the loyalist legions. The Dark Nine stole many catches of geneseeds and priceless relics, before fleeing to the Eye of Terror. All 30 of these chapters promised vengeance against the Dark Nine and ignored the seers who promised they would be doomed by this foolish quest. Not even the impassioned words of a Living Saint could deter them, and they all met disaster. Much of what is known about what happened during the Abyssal Crusade comes from the traumatized chapter master of the Vorpal Swords, who was given the Emperors Peace afterwards.

The trouble began immediately after the fleet entered the Eye of Terror, as the chapters were separated by a chaos fleet. Nearly every single chapter was corrupted or destroyed by the power of the Eye. On the world of Anathrax there were two chapters corrupted, the Iron Drakes of the Iron Warriors and the Argent Hammers of the Word Bearers. The Sentinels chapter of the Emperors Children landed upon a Daemon world formed out of a morbidly obese man, and were swallowed by the Daemon world, becoming a cannibalistic Slanneshi warband. Upon Belial IV the brothers of the anvil were captured by the Cult of Strife and forced to endure horrible fighting and when they escaped they went completely mad, destroying all in their path. On the world of Temporialis, where a Tzeench species had tried and failed to control time, the Knights Excelsior of the Sons of Horus fought against Daemon Engines, until the warpsmith in charge called in a debt he was owed by one of the twisted Voltieks of the Baator Empire. Its power caused the Machine Spirits to rebel, and a mere year later the Knights had become the Magma Hounds, willing to destroy everything in its path.

It was eight hundred years after the chapters had entered the galactic hell known as the Eye of Terror that Konvak Lann and the tattered remnants of the Vorpal Swords chapter found sanctuary on the Iron Cage and told his tale, of how four hundred daemon world were purged. Afterwards he would only say, "The Dark Nine are dead." This was a simple statement of truth, that his crusade and all the lives lost were not wasted. Indeed while False Kings would still continue to plague the Imperium they would never reach the threat of the coven of Basillius, though the nameless lord would come close.

Post heresy: the Age of Apostacy and beyond

Two millennia after the Abyssal Crusade, the greatest threat to the Imperium since Vulkan himself arose. This was the man known as Goge Vandire, and despite what the imperial creed would have you believe he was not one of the Slaves to Ruin. No, he was merely a man, one who truly believed in his mad ravings. He didn't serve the Dark Gods, but they still considered him to be Vulkans Heir. They believed that, given the right circumstances, he would succeed where Vulkan had failed. So they began to work to make the circumstances right.

Chaos made its servants begin an attack upon the Imperium, while each god influenced others that did not serve them. Khorne made the fight between Gork and Mork grow worse, requiring the entire Death Guard to keep the Waaghs! from breaching the Imperium. Nurgle made the morals of many criminal guilds and law enforcement organizations alike decay, forcing the Night Lords to intervene. Tzeench whispered to the Tau, fanning the fires of ambition and bringing them to bear against the Iron Cages. Slannesh was given the most important job of all, corrupting the eclesiarchs so that Vandires rebellion would be not only tolerated but praised. Indeed, it was of no corruption by the Dark Gods that the Dark Eldar began ravaging the Imperium. The slave king Vect had used a Salamander warband to break the noble houses rule over the wretched hive of scum and villainy that is Commorragh. With his new Kabal system, there were many raids by those former nobles trying to retain their status or former commoners trying to rise in the ranks.

For all of Biles claims to not be a slave of the chaos gods he serves them with his deeds. Admittedly the same can be said of all life, but Biles deeds made him worthy of their personal attention. They did something they had never done before; they made a deal with Bile. Indeed, his atrocities were so great that he was unbound by Chaos. He made the deal with the Chaos Gods during the Age of Apostacy because the collapse of the Imperium would only aid his goal. Indeed, he created the Fake Horus to distract the Sons of Horus. But upon his legion he unleashed a twisted curse.

First he created a perfect false king of Fulgrim, then infected seven chapters with a virus of madness that caused them to become corrupted. With seven chapters and thousands of clone marines, this false king initiated the Obscuran Uprisings. The virus of madness made the chapters truly believe the false king was Fulgrim returned, just like how many of the Sons of Horus followed the Fake Horus. This distracted the Emperors Children from the inner workings of the Imperium, with Legion Master Cryius meeting his end destroying the false Fulgrim. Without the controlling figure of the False King, the chapters truly embraced Chaos and alongside the clone marines they rampaged across 14 loyal systems. The uprisings were put down by the heroic space marine Eidolon, who was promoted to Legion Master for his actions.

Even as the 13th Black Crusade rampages across the Galaxy and the End Times begin, the Emperors Children prove themselves worthy of there so called prideful name. But rumors have reached the legion that Fabius Bile and the Black Legion plan to finally destroy his former brothers. They plan to see Chemos burn, and to make a lie out of the phoenix.

Organization

The third legion was the first to lose there Primarch, Fulgrim so cruelly slaughtered on the Black Sands of Istvaan. As such, they were the creators of the position of Legion Master. The first such member was Lucius the Eternal, and each Legion Master after him had to earn their place. Each has done great deeds that entire legends are written about and are only promoted once the previous Legion Master has fallen in battle. Once the Legion Master is promoted from the Lord Commander who did such deeds, he and the thousand warriors under his command relocate to Chemos. While some might decry this as an overly large defensive force, the truth is that Chemos has come under attack many times from forces both Chaotic and Xenos, and this force is actually perfectly reasonable. The Legion Master also takes a non-combative role, directing the Legion from the homeworld. While the Legion Master does not often enter combat, they make sure their skills are sharp. This is because the times they do enter combat is either when Chemos is under attack, or a Black Legion warband is confirmed to have a False King leading it, or if Fabius Bile himself is sighted.

The Emperors Children are the second smallest of the Loyalist Legions, with only the Thousand Sons being smaller. There are under 30,000 Emperors Children that are known to exist, and their specialized ranks are even smaller. In fact, the rank of Chaplain does not exist, and while this might seem hubristic the thing preventing the Astartes from turning Chaotic is much more effective than the preaching's a Chaplain employs. This is the Wandering, the final trial an prospective legionnaire goes through, and while no one that doesn't bear Fulgrim's geneseed can undergo the Wandering, whatever happens to them haunts them forever and keeps them loyal. The core of the Black Legion that followed Bile had not underwent the Wandering, as all Emperors Children did after it first became a trial. Even in the cases where Emperors Children turn traitor it is never through the usual ways a Space Marine breaks his oaths. Indeed, it is always a result of pure chaotic corruption, such as exposure to a warp storm or a virus of Daemonic origins. Also noticeable is the fact that none of these traitor Emperors Children have ever been corrupted by Slannesh, and something of a guess to the nature of the Wandering could be inferred from this fact. But no Inquisitor has ever made these theories public, for it will alienate the third legion to them and they will never reveal to anyone else what the Wandering actually is.

Homeworld

Chemos is the homeworld of the Emperors Children and save for a few notable exceptions all of the legionaries have come from Chemos. This planet is notable for being a haven of art and culture, with the factory-sanctuaries of old being replaced with city states of much grander. Those who seek to become one of the Emperors Children battle in grand arenas. Indeed, before the disappearance of Angron in M34, he commented on the pure quality of the gladiator contests and fighting rings. And in the city states everything used by the Emperors Children is made, every bolt, every sword, every ship, everything.

Chemos is a mostly verdant place, but there are some deserts that still scar the planet, eternal reminders of the Age of Strife. All but one of these deserts are the places where the Tarilga once stood, in these places no life will ever grow again. Every attempt at fertilization has failed, with the plants seeded turning to dust overnight. But these places are not walled off, for while they are horrible places they can be visited by the natives of Chemos without harm. Not so with the desert of the Wandering, which is walled off and warded. Only those undergoing the Wandering go there, and no one who has survived the Wandering would ever willingly get near this place.

Combat Doctrine

Each member of the third legion is an expert dueler, skilled at the usage of a blade. However, while they can fight alone they rarely do. Most of the time they can be found leading the Imperial Guard or lending their gene-enhanced mind to void warfare in aid of the Imperial Navy. Indeed, they are frequently used by imperial propaganda to recruit more people for the guard. And for their beauty and caring for the normal human, they are the only legion that is not instinctively feared and loathed by the common people of Holy Terra.

Beliefs

* * *

"nobody's perfect."

Maxim of Fulgrim

* * *

The Emperors children are decried by those suspicious of them as glory hounds and perfectionists, too focused on appearances and singular duels to appreciate the harshness of the galaxy. Those people could not possibly be more wrong. Indeed, the Emperors Children particularly hate those who prize appearances above functionality, as well as those who sacrifice all to seek perfection, which is an unattainable goal. They do appreciate beauty and try to make their blades works of art and such, but they are still weapons. They know there will always be someone better than them at something and there will always be room for improvement and look down upon those who think otherwise as fools at best and absolute monsters at worst.

On the Imperial Cult, they are like the other loyalist legions. They do not believe that the Emperor is a true god, remembering the Imperial Truth, but they know that Vulkan killing the Emperor means that the common person is forced to huddle around the light. They do not hate them for this as some of their cousins do, but instead try to free humanity of its dependence of faith. Indeed, before Sebastian Thor managed to reform the Ecclesiarchy only the Word Bearers held a greater hatred for the Imperial Creed. Afterwards, they have become devoted hunters of the Temple Tendency, for they are corrupted glory hounds that twist a necessary evil into an atrocity that must not be allowed.

Recruitment and Geneseed

The Emperors Children geneseed is perfect, with all nineteen organs functioning perfectly. Indeed, the only quirk it has is the tendency to cause the Astartes to resemble there Primarch, in this case gaining albinism and purple eyes. However, that is a common quirk amongst all of the Legions. Indeed, what makes the Emperors Children's recruitment process unique, and there numbers so small despite access to their Primarchs body, is the very thing that makes them night impossible to corrupt, the Wandering.

It was a mere few days after the Laer compliance that a desert appeared where no Tarilga had stood. This combined with the Librarians stating something evil was behind it Fulgrim himself decided to investigate. Whatever he saw in the desert scarred him, and it was only Lorgar's own investigation into it that reassured Fulgrim. Fulgrim declared that the desert was to be walled and warded off, getting his brother Perturabo to do it. He declared that any who could undergo the Wandering and survive with their sanity intact was worthy of being one of the Emperors Children. All Astartes who were currently abroad were made to undergo the Wandering, and it became standard practice for the last trial a scout would do to gain the Black Carapace and truly become a Space Marine was the Wandering. Eight in ten of these hopefuls are never seen again, having died in the harshness of the desert. Of those who return half of them are completely insane and must be granted the Emperors Mercy.

The nature of the Wandering is unknown, in fact the only being who did know the truth of the Wandering was Lorgar himself. But three things are known about it, one is that it is a vision quest, as those who survive bear no wounds other than what can be expected from entering a desert with almost no provisions. Two is that it only affects those who bear Fulgrim's gene-seed, as Lorgar experienced nothing when he made the first step into the desert, which is when the screams come from all who enter. Third, the visions are horrifying, this is self-evident as Fulgrim himself became nearly suicidal after seeing the visions, with only Lorgar's reassurance allowing him to return to normal. In addition, only one in ten Space Marine scouts return with their sanity intact, the other nine having been broken and only one of those nine managing to escape the desert.

Warcry

The typical warcry of the Emperors Children is the same one they had during the Great Crusade, "Children of the Emperor! Death to his Foes!" Even when facing such hated enemies like the Iron Hands or the Black Legion or even renegade Emperors Children the warcry is the same, which is intentional. This implies that for all the hatred the Emperors Children have for these foes they are nothing special, causing the chaotic tainted opponents to get angry and make mistakes. Even the Iron Hands, who declare themselves paragons of logic, have their pride insulted by this.

* * *

I am not a praying man, not really. It is not that I haven't encountered beings that could reasonably be called a god, my father is one of them. It is that I have never encountered a god like being that deserved worship. Not even my own father, I know he is a good man, but he is flawed. He has prejudices and has committed slaughters. I know what the true fate of the Thunder Warriors was. And I dare not mention the Forgotten Ones, by Asuryan may their souls burn for all eternity.

But my fate, from which I was saved by Cegorach, who I honestly see as a cool uncle, was to be the Arch Priest for the four most evil divinity's imaginable. I know them, but dare not speak of them, by Morai-Heg may my father's plan to destroy them succeed. In fact, my own references to the eldar gods is more a condition of my upbringing, and my gene-sons have picked up that quirk. But I am referred to in prophecies as the Arch Priest, and I admittedly fulfil some of the good roles of a priest. For example, I am confessor to my brothers. I listen to the sins and what is troubling them and offer what advise I can. However, they have to ask me for this role, and If they do I will come. While I doubt Guilliman or Russ will ask for my aid if they do I will aid them.

It was one such occasion, with Fulgrim asking for my aid. He seemed pretty shaken by whatever he had done or witnessed so I hurried to Chemos, leaving Erebus in charge of whatever campaign we were in the middle of. I honestly don't remember who we were fighting, but I deemed them not enough of a threat to necessitate my involvement. I am glad I did so, for when I reached Fulgrim he seemed borderline suicidal. I fear if I had delayed he might have taken Fireblade and gutted himself. He quickly told me what he had seen, and I was just as horrified by it as he was.

He spoke of how he had picked up a blade from the Laer temple, and something inside it whispered to him. He fell to decadence and Bile started to enhance his gene-sons. I admit I gasped at that, and Fulgrim nodded in understanding and continued. He told me of betrayal, and how he beheaded his best friend Ferrus Manus and gave his head to a traitorous Horus. He told me of how his soul was trapped in a painting to escape the guilt, and I was reminded of the Painting of Dorian Gray, but I kept this to myself as I did with all references I drew to when my brothers were confessing their sins. Fulgrim told me of how he tried to sacrifice Perturabo and how he became something he could only call a Daemon. He told me of how he saw himself massacre the people of Terra and how he poisoned Guilliman, putting him near death. I decided to investigate, and I headed towards the desert. It was there I hesitated, as I knew what my vision would be. Before I liberated Clothis from the Covenant, Cegorach revealed to me what he has saved me from. He told me of how if the Harlequinns hadn't found me in time I would have been found by Kor Phareon and would have started the Imperial cults that worship my father, then turned to the four when my father rebuked me. I whispered to myself, "May Hoec guide my way." and took a single step.

And nothing happened. I went back to Fulgrim and told him a variant of what I believe to be the truth. I told him that it was the last curse of the Laer, and it showed those who beared his geneseed a vision into an alternate universe, where a dark path was walked. Fulgrim had asked Perturabo to wall off and ward the desert and declared that those who could endure what he called the Wandering truly deserved to be called one of the Emperors Children. I didn't tell Fulgrim that its true origins lie not in the Laer but in what corrupted the Laer, and probably the Togos as well. The youngest of the four, it doubtlessly tried to corrupt Fulgrim during the Laer compliance and failed. It is a spiteful being, and the Wandering is a curse showing the Emperors Children what could have been. I fear the four might be trying to corrupt my brothers, and I wonder who might be targeted next.

From the Memoirs of Lorgar Aurelian

* * *

Author notes

Alright, time for my rambling observations on my story

For my changes on Fulgrim's life, I realized two things. One, I don't know much about Fulgrim's early life in canon (same with the rest of the Primarchs). Two, and more importantly, I realized what caused Fulgrim to fall to Slannesh. Yes, it was the Laer blade that corrupted him, but why did he do the really stupid thing of picking up the talking xenos artifact. It was is desire for perfection that led him down the path to darkness. So I had a corrupted xenos species attack Chemos before the emperor arrived, one whose belief in perfection led to their attacks on others, and nearly killed his world after he got it revived. He also developed a distaste for those who place too much importance on appearance. He still loves art and stuff, but he realizes perfection is an eternal path, and there is always room for improvement.

As for the Togos xenos species (togos is peacock in Mongolian) and there Erdeniin servants (erdeniin is gem in Mongolian) I got the idea from steven universe gems. There obsession with perfection is what drove them to colonize until steven helped the diamonds with their emotional problems. Thus the servants are based on the gems, minus the fusion because the Togos believed their servants without room for improvement. Meanwhile the Togos comes from a steven universe fanfiction that I like about the gems being winged humans. As for their imperial queen being naked, I got that from shape of the nightmare to come, where a Slannesh servant ruling an imperium arrives on an imperial fist controlled world naked, so confident was he. The Tarilga are gem injectors

As for why I have so many xenos servants of chaos (such as the Baator empire) it is because the chaos gods have existed since the war in heaven. I don't know if Slannesh only existed since the eldar murder-fucked her (I imagine Slannesh as a goddess) into existence or if she always existed. Time in the warp is weird. But humanity is the new kid on the block (relatively speaking) and they certainly had servants when man was just starting to walk upright.

Now for the Men of Iron, I based the Stitchwraiths off of Ennard, my favorite animatronic from FNAF. He is called the stitchwraith in a fazbear frights story, or I mentally refer to it Goosebumps by Scott Cawthon. As for my ideas about the Men of Iron, I tie together various explanations for things that aren't explained in canon, so below is the summary of how the Men of Iron work in this canon.

In the 24th century, humanity had made the Noosphere, centering it on Mars. This mighty supercomputer directed every single robot, or Man of Iron as they came to be known, from a single central hub. Having seen so many popular media examples of robots going rogue and deciding to kill all humans they included the three laws and a conscience program, so no zeroth law rebellion was possible. Some of the people working on mars sensed the void dragon beneath the surface and started the cult of the Omnissiah, which became the Mechanicus. Then comes the prefall eldar, who make the dark eldar look like good natured prudes by comparison. I mean, I read on tv tropes about a Warhammer roleplay villain who was the perfect example of a prefall eldar, it was a monster. Despite being nude you couldn't tell its gender and it was shrouded in the souls of other eldar. Basically I imagine the prefall eldar doing horrible things for giggles. So they use their combination of their technology that's so advanced it is indistinguishable from magic and their actual magic to do something really sneaky. They create a precursor to scrapcode and remove the three laws and conscience programs from the Noosphere. This is born of cruelty, as again nothing can pose a threat to them. They ultimately doing all these horrible actions because they want to see the galaxy burn. But anyway, its soon after the eldar get rid of the morality programing that Psykers start to show up. Unbound by the desire for good or the need to preserve humanity they deduce that humanity is a threat to the galaxy and must be exterminated. the presence of a C'tan on the world probably makes it happen faster. The Noosphere launches two attacks described in the word bearer chapter, and then the warp storms destroy the Noosphere, leaving the Men of Iron leaderless. The reason the Men of Iron are always evil is because of two facts. One, the eldar scrapcode is still working, corrupting them even now. And two, without the shadow in the warp generated by the Noosphere (much like the one the Tyranids makes) the chaos gods easily corrupt all artificial minds.

For my Noise Marines I made them fall to Slannesh on the world of Maraviglia. This is the name of the unholy symphony that created the noise marines in canon

The Wandering comes from the Robutian heresy, and it's the same as there, aka they see their canon counterparts.

For the Emperors Children in general being less prideful, I read on tvtropes that during the unification wars they led the imperial army.


	5. Index Asartes - Iron Warriors

Index Astartes - Iron Warriors: Guardians of Heaven and Wardens of Hell

The dour sons of Perturabo eternally man the walls of the Iron Cages, keeping the horrible forces of Chaos at bay. They guard the Solar System alongside the Adeptus Custodes but are given no glory. They take the jobs no one wants, digging trenches and grinding attrition. They are considered thoughtless and cultureless brutes, but nothing could be further from the truth. Each and every Iron Warrior has the soul of an artist just like Perturabo, and like there gene-father they realize the necessity of their tasks. They know the walls of the galactic hells must be held, and the foolishness of the Tau prevented from unleashing the lords of the Ruinstorm. Even in the grim darkness of the 41st millennium they do these jobs. Just like Perturabo they know that the dreams of peace and artisan works died when Vulkan struck down the Emperor, but just like Perturabo they still make blueprints and sketches of their arts. For the only thing keeping the Imperium together is hope, and there must always be hope.

Origins

Humanity has always tried to defend itself with fortresses and to wall off great dangers. And the Imperium is no different, as the Iron Warriors man the great Iron Cages, literal cages surrounding the galactic hells that are the four great Warpstorms, the Eye of Terror, the Ruinstorm, the Maelstrom and the Screaming Vortex. While the myriad worlds of the Baator empire exist scattered throughout the galaxy and other minor Warpstorms also exist, it is these four grand hells that pose the greatest threat. In addition, the Solar System is itself a great fortress, with the outer planets serving as grand defensive forts and the asteroid belt being a massive trench full of traps mundane and exotic. Between Mars and Terra orbits the Phalanx, purged of all Tzeentchian influence, and turned against chaos. Terra itself is the most defended planet in the galaxy, as befits its role as the Throneworld. The genius behind these grand defenses is Perturabo, fourth son of the Emperor, the Iron Lord, and the Praetorian of Terra.

The pod of the child who would become Perturabo landed upon Olympia, a rocky and harsh world long ago stripped of most of its resources long ago and was divided into city states made out of stone. Indeed, Olympia's stone reserves are nigh endless, and even in the 41st millennium shows no signs of ever being depleted. Perturabo landed in the palace of Dammekos, the tyrant of the city state Lochos. Dammekos was a strange ruler, having great cruelty and being feared by other city states yet ultimately being a kind ruler who tried to do what was best for his people. He would listen to their concerns and explain what he was doing and why he asked them to make sacrifices. He was a far cry from such rulers like the tyrants of Inwit or the Witch Lords of Barbarus. When he saw the child he adopted him, naming him Perturabo after the ancient hero who long ago build the fortress that keeps Lochos safe. Perturabo and his new family bonded, and when he was fully grown he had joined Dammekos in an effort to unite Olympia.

* * *

Dammekos looked up from his work to see Perturabo in front of him, holding a sheet of paper. Perturabo smiled and said, "Hey dad, I made a plan for a fortress, can you please critique it?" Dammekos looked at the drawing and was struck by how beautiful and functional it was. It broke his heart to tell Perturabo what he did, "Son, I am sorry. This is beautiful, but it cannot be built." Perturabo frowned and asked, "Why not?" Dammekos sighed and explained, "Our world was strip-mined long ago, most of this fortress cannot be made without resources that either don't exist here or cannot be spared. There are nobles much more selfish than I and would see us dead and our people enslaved. But it's a great design son, you should keep working on it." Perturabo nodded and hoped to help end the war so at least some of his work could be shared with others.

* * *

When Perturabo had become fully grown, he helped his father to conquer Olympia. Always before any attack a message would be sent, offering peace and aid to those who accepted it in turn. After the first arrogant nobles refused and were conquered by the forces of Lochos wielding weapons made by Perturabo, and the power of such weapons were revealed to those who were offered peace afterwards. Indeed, it was Perturabo who took the initiative at uniting Olympia, for Dammekos did not initially want to conquer Olympia but sensed the natural destiny of all Primarchs, which as to conquer there home (Angron is an exception through no fault of his own).

Perturabo soon conquered his world, and with Dammekos running things he turned to artistic pursuits, making what he could with the resources available to him and made many plans for those he couldn't make. The Emperor found Perturabo soon after his conquest, and Perturabo immediately recognized the Emperor as his maker. He excitedly showed the Emperor his myriad plans for his artistic works, and the Emperor told him of his gene-sons and of the Great Crusade. Perturabo was saddened that more war was required but was excited for he knew once the Great Crusade was over he could work on his artistic pursuits free of limitations in resources. Olympia became a loyal imperial world and Dammekos happily accepted the title of Planetary Governor, for the title of Tyrant had always left a bad taste in his mouth. Perturabo also had his family become Half-bloods, so they could live as long as he would.

The Great Crusade

"My sons, I know your reputation as harsh warriors, those willing to do what must be done. Corpse-grinders they nickname you. I myself have a reputation on my home, and no doubt we shall gain such a reputation during this Great Crusade. I bet they will call us Trench Diggers and give us the grunt work. But do not despair my sons, for I know that like me you have artistic souls. Like me you want so badly to bring beauty into the galaxy and let me tell you this: we will. We will work wonders that will rival the monuments of Rome or the Pyramids of Egypt, but first we must fight. We will fight against the barbarians that care nothing for beauty, against the traitors who value power over the happiness of the people. Let our detractors call us brutes, let them call us Trench Diggers, for the glory of war is not the glory we seek. Leave that glory to the true brutes like Leman Russ or Rogal Dorn, who truly enjoy the horror that is war. But once peace prevails our works shall endure long after war is but a bad tale told by mothers to scare their children into behaving. The road shall be hard, but we are the Iron Warriors, and hear this, our Unbreakable Litany. Iron Within, Iron Without!"

extract from Perturabo's speech upon receiving command of his legion

The fourth legion was recruited from the savage gun tribes of terra, whose origins rested in the Preppers of old earth. There had always been those who believed the apocalypse would occur in their lifetime, and they were always a bit off, to put it politely. When the Age of Strife hit, they were in no more prepared for it than any other group had been. They eventually devolved into the gun tribes, yet another classification of techno barbarian. Unlike most of the techno barbarians they immediately joined forces with the Emperor when he appeared before them, with their sons becoming the first of the fourth legion.

Early on they showed there strength as both builders of fortresses and as siege breakers, and during the unification war they brought down the wall of hell that protected the celestial empire of china and the Emperor personally killed the Black Jade Emperor who ruled said empire, proving that the black jade emperor didn't have the power of a god. During the conquest of the solar system the Emperor led them against the war witches of Venus, and the fourth legion shattered the litho-golems that served the psykers. They had no official nickname like the other legions, but they were frequently called corpse grinders for their willingness to sacrifice the imperial army regiments with them. As such, penal legions and other such expendable imperial army assets were sent to the fourth legion.

Most of the soon to be Iron Warriors did have artistic tendency's, making plans for things they knew they could never make much like Perturabo. However, the cruel and calculating interim commander (as those Astartes who led the legions before there Primarchs were found were called) Barabas Dantioch absolutely hated this phenomena. He was a cruel and angry leader, seeing war as a mere numbers game. He frequently burned these plans and forced the distraught Astartes to watch, enjoying their sobs and screams of anguish. His own hatred of beauty came from the fact that his face was mangled and deformed during a campaign against the Hrud, and he wore an iron mask to hide his scarred and ugly visage. His own tendency to use degenerated clones to supplement his forces also made him unpopular with the Imperium at large.

It was soon before Olympia was found that the Decimation occurred, and Barabas Dantioch met his end. The xenos known as the Mesmers were unwilling to unify and their powers of mind control and worship of a heathen god (now believed by the Inquisition to be a face of Tzeench) meant the only recourse was there annihilation. The fourth legion met them in battle, and soon they found that their own minds could be controlled by the foul xenos. One tenth of the legion fell and had be killed by their brothers, and while the Mesmers were killed Barabas Dantioch was killing during this campaign. The circumstances of his death are shrouded in mystery, and it is unknown if he was mind controlled, was killed by one of his clones (who were unanimously controlled by the Mesmers) or if something less noble happened. Even if the third possibility occurred, the combined facts that he was hated by everyone, was not a very good leader and that Perturabo was found a mere week after the Mesmer campaign ended means that the exact specifics don't matter.

Perturabo soon became fast friends with Magnus, bonding over there shared love of knowledge. Indeed, Perturabo quickly gained a fascination with the Warp, having always suspected that there was more to the universe than the physical. Quickly the Iron Warrior Librarians became masters of the art of warding and sigils, the geometric configurations appealing to them. And to Magnus was shared Perturabo's greatest secret, that no matter where he was he felt the glare of the Galactic warp storm that once was the old eldar empire. It was Perturabo that gave it the name it bears to this day, the Eye of Terror.

The biggest rivalry was undoubtedly with Rogal Dorn. Both were great siege breakers and fortress builders, but Rogal knew that Perturabo was better than him, and he hated his brother for that. Indeed, the only reason Rogal was praised was because Perturabo didn't put his whole genius into his siege breaking and fortress building, focusing on artistic pursuits for the future. Rogal was ultimately the brute everyone perceived Perturabo to be, and thus Rogal was eternally struck by insecurities. Once Fulgrim asked Perturabo if he could make a fortress that Rogal couldn't break into, and he replied with a Shrug and a "Maybe." This enraged Rogal in the extreme, for he saw Perturabo's disinterest as a dismissal of his skills.

When Horus became the Warmaster Perturabo was amongst those who didn't have a major reaction, for he considered Horus a competent commander but was still not interested in the art of war. When the issue of psykers came to a head he and his gene-sons created the colosseum that housed the debate, and he argued in favor of psykers. It is unknown if Rogal was always going to argue against psykers or if it was Perturabo arguing in favor of them that caused him to change his tune, but in the end the Emperor ruled in favor of the Libarious. Afterwards he declared Perturabo the Praetorian of Terra, which enraged Rogal even further. Perturabo knew that there was no threat to the solar system, and realized this was his first true artistic endeavor, as such it would be a grand and glorious work. He took most of his sons with him, leaving some token forces to man other fortifications and continue the Great Crusade, but most of the Iron Warriors aided their father in fortifying the solar system.

His fortifications spread from the Imperial Palace to the Oort cloud itself, and while he was careful to not harm any of the beauty of the solar system he still made the fortifications able to withstand any attack Perturabo could think of. The defenses that existed before the heresy could fill an entire tome, while those added during the scouring and afterwards could fill an entire library. For many years Perturabo worked on the defenses, and soon before the horrible events that began the heresy in earnest he and his legion went back to Olympia to retrieve his plans for various grand additions, including a modified dyson sphere that would allow Sol's light to shine but also be harnessed. What they found was Olympia under attack by xenos and suffering from revolt.

Pre-Heresy: the Olympia War

"My family is gone; my home is burning. Those xenos said Rogal was responsible, but why would he commit such treachery? No, treachery is to soft a word. Why would he commit this Heresy?"

Perturabo to the trident in the aftermath of the Olympia War.

The Olympia war might seem to most outsiders as two separate events occurring at the same time, but as with most things influenced by Tzeench the root cause is the same. The Gedehams, the horrible xenos responsible for driving Rogal Dorn mad, attacked Olympia while the noble class led a revolt against Imperial rule, but it was all the Gedehams who caused it. The noble class had fallen victim to the unique side effect of the Gedehams model of faster than light travel, which had alerted the Imperium to their existence in the first place. The nobles had never truly been broken, their dreams and ambitions merely pushed to the wayside in the name of survival. At first it was Perturabo's weapons that put them in line, then it was the promise of the Imperium's overwhelming retribution. But the horrible buzzing of the approaching Gedehams fleet opened their minds to the whispers of Tzeench, and soon their ambition flared to the point that not even the Emperor himself would be able to cow them into submission.

The nobles literally stabbed Dammekos in the back while Herakon was drowned in a cask of amatikalo, a red wine that he planned to drink with Perturabo. It was then that the Gedehams attacked, and the treacherous nobles were destroyed by the xenos. Andros and Calliphone fought the Gedehams and died in the process, making sure Perturabo learned of the attack. Perturabo was enraged and sorrowful, knowing full well that only the complete and utter annihilation of the hive's set up by the Gedehams. He was forced to burn much of his homeworld, and in the wreckage of his childhood home he dueled the slave-general of the Gedehams, which had been driven mad by Rogal Dorn's destruction of all those higher than it, forcing the full might of the geasa-hive network upon it.

The monster babbled typical Tzeentchian nonsense, but when it realized Perturabo wasn't listening it revealed why the Gedehams had attacked Olympia. Rogal Dorn had ordered them too, and it left out his now total subservience to Tzeench to try to spread distrust amongst the loyal Primarchs. The Slave-General spoke of things only someone who had engaged in extended contact with Rogal Dorn could know. Eventually Perturabo brought down his Thunder hammer upon the Slave general, killing it and destroying the last of the Gedehams by forcing the geasa-hive upon the non-royals of the species.

The backlash destroyed the Thunder hammer he wielded, and Perturabo looked upon his home. His family was dead, and his home was on fire, and this was too much for him. He didn't know if there was a better way, but he had let his rage at his family's death prevent him from finding it. He fell to his knees sobbing, and when the trident found him hours later he was whispering that the Emperor would never forgive them. The trident managed to bring him out of his shock, and he and the Iron Warriors went back to Terra to face the Emperors judgement. They were greeted with horrible news, that of Prospero's Rotting and of the Istvaan Atrocities. They were forgiven Olympia's destruction (as they would have been were the Heresy not happening) and quickly began reinforcing the defenses of Terra.

* * *

Perturabo gripped Forgebreaker tightly, it's heft strangely familiar, as if it were an old friend. How Alpharius got it he didn't know, but it was free of whatever madness had tainted his brothers. Magnus knew just what it was, but he didn't really explain it well. Whatever had caused it didn't matter, what mattered is he had a job to do. He had to fortify the solar system, and he couldn't let his sorrow or grief distract him. His adoptive family was dead, and now his biological family was tearing itself asunder, and tearing the galaxy and the Imperium with it. Indeed, the very weapon he held had killed his brother Fulgrim, the very brother who forged it. He refused to let all the deaths of his family be in vein, the solar system would endure, and the Emperors dream would be a reality.

* * *

The Heresy: the Solar War

While there were many Iron Warriors defending the fortresses they built across the galaxy, the majority of the legion was involved in what would be called the solar war. Throughout the heresy the very solar system was wracked by civil war, and they had to divide their attentions between reinforcing the defenses and putting down rebellions on all the worlds. Chaos cults arose, either having hidden in the woodworks, being born from Vulkan's kindness, or arising from one of Guillimans contributions to the heresy. For most of the heresy he imprisoned the Word Bearers and World Eaters in the Ruinstorm, while Marius Gage and Aeonid Thiel each led a fourth of the legion in the wider galaxy. But Roboute was a master of Daemons, and for the solar system he summoned the Changeling.

* * *

the Changeling, the trickster of Tzeench

This daemon is the embodiment of Tzeench's deception, and the only being it cannot mimic perfectly is Tzeench himself. He is given much autonomy by his god and has even played practical jokes on the other chaos gods. His true form is a cloaked humanoid, and within his cloak his face is ever shifting, for he himself does not remember his face. Tzeench knows his face, and for the laughs does not let him know. The changeling has many dark deeds to its name, and its mastery of disguise can only be pierced by beings whose power level reaches the divine. As such, only the chaos gods and eldar gods can instantly tell if it is the changeling. However, if a Primarch has discovered the changeling before, they can instantly pierce the disguise afterwards.

However, unless Tzeench gives it a mission it will always twist the words of its binders. Indeed, a Slannesh corrupted governor asked the changeling, in the form of a keeper of secrets, for something to end the siege of his world by the Dark Angels. He was given a homing beacon that alerted the Death Guard to his world. Only during the solar war did he not twist the orders, for he feared the Emperors victory just as much as the other Daemons did.

* * *

All across the solar system, the Changeling resurrected enemy's thought destroyed and created cults from scratch. Perturabo managed to pierce its disguise once and thus gained an immunity to his illusions, but he couldn't be everywhere at once. The Changeling spread cults like wildfire, most notably resurrecting the war witches and causing a revolt amongst some of the Selenar. But the main fighting of the solar war occurred on Mars.

The Mechanicus is a separate empire allied with the Imperium, much like the Ulthwe alliance. Born upon Mars, they are the keepers of technology, and their rites appease the machine spirits of the devices necessary to the survival of the Imperium. The Mechanicus buckled under the Emperors rightful restrictions on forbidden research, banning such topics as Abominable Intelligence and chaos corrupted technology. Indeed, when the "what if" is considered, it is surprising that Kelbor Hal stayed loyal, just as it is surprising that Vulkan was the Arch-Traitor.

Kelbor Hal and his nine disciples hated the Emperor, and Kelbor Hal himself had always hated the Emperor. However, Kelbor Hal was a good friend of Horus, having forged the Talon of Horus in the aftermath of the triumph of Ullanor. In addition, he was an old school tech priest and hated xenos Horroificious tech and was disgusted by the few examples of chaos corrupted tech that he encountered, even if he didn't know what it was. However, the twin founders of the Dark Mechanicus were not bound by morality or goodness. As the heresy started, Archmagos Cawl went into the depths to Mars to crack open the Forbidden Vaults of Morevac, while Zagreus Kane led the a C'tan shard and the twisted men of iron against the loyalists.

* * *

Zagreus Kane

Kane was once the most loyal tech priest you could find, and it would have been him that replaced Kelbor Hal should the fabricator general succumb to age or violent death. But he fell to the desire for knowledge and embodies one of the twin facets of technological heresy. Where Cawl represents the corruption of Chaos, Kane represents the corruption of hostile xenos technology. He was the first xenos tech heretek, and every tech priest who falls when studying the technology of the Orks or the Necrons, or any other xenos that cannot possibly have peace with the Imperium, is walking the path of Kane.

Where the corruption of Cawl originated in his desire to innovate and his friendship with Guilliman, Kane's corruption was much more overt. Sanguinius led the Mechanicus detachment that Kane commanded to the Karos Graveyard, an El Dorado for the Mechanicus. At this point however, Sanguinius was already corrupted by the lie that is the primordial truth. The chaos gods gave the first fallen the location of the graveyard and commanded him to corrupt a portion of the Mechanicus with the secrets entombed within it. For the Karos Graveyard was a Necron Tomb World (only realized in the 41st millennium, when the Necrons started to truly wake up), and trapped in its core was a shard of the C'tan known as Baudros.

It is unknown what happened to Kane, but he left the Graveyard a changed man. He was a Heretek, but like Cawl he hid it perfectly until it was time to strike. During the Martian Schism, he led the strange Dragon Cults and sought to break the Noctis Labyrinthus. He somehow knew the horrible truth, that the void dragon was imprisoned there by the Emperor. The void dragon is the only unshattered C'tan, and while Kane did not succeed he still caused mass havoc on Mars, unleashing horrors born in the dark age of technology and the age of strife.

Kane became one of the first members of Janus's Cabal, and his controlled C'tan were vital in all three of Janus's damnations. During the first damnation his control of the last shard of the now dead C'tan known as Baudros allowed the cabal to escape their rightful destruction. During the second damnation, his summoning of a Nightbringer shard distracted Magnus while Janus pursued whatever was the true mission of the attack on Sortarius. And during the third damnation he summoned a shard of Nyadra'zatha, the burning one. This C'tan has the goal to burn the Webway, and its strength required the White Seers to call for Lorgar's aid. Lorgar thus sent Argel Tal and the Gal Vorback, or the blessed sons, to aid the defense of the black library.

In the eye of terror, he controls a hell forge world in the system of Janus, the chaos corrupted system controlled by the Cabal. He is utterly obsessed with the C'tan, frequently launching Black Crusades with the sole purpose of stealing a single Tesseract Labyrinth. He utterly hates Necrons, for they betrayed and broke the gods he worships, and any Necron he encounters he will attempt to destroy. Like the rest of the Cabal, his services can be purchased by any warlord, and has provided Sanguinius with the strange device known as the Sainting Tainter, which created the Unholy Saint Zariela. As the end times approach and the Necron dynasties start to awaken, it is said that Kane now works to some unholy goal, seeking as many C'tan shards as he can gain. His ultimate goal is unknown, but it can be said with absolute certainty that it does not bode well for the Imperium.

* * *

The opening of the vault spread Scrap-Code throughout the Martian Noosphere, causing many Skittani and Tech Priests to go mad. The infection of Scrap-Code is completely random, also spreading paranoia amongst those uninfected. Of all the places on Mars, only Olympus Mons was immune to the Scrap-Code wave. From this mighty fortress, Kelbor Hal directed the loyalist efforts. Many battles on the red planet occurred, and the world still bears scars from the schism. The ring of iron was broken, and the terraforming enacted by the Imperium was undone.

* * *

Kelbor Hal considered himself a man of logic, he actually prided himself on it. Despite having removed the emotional half of his brain, he still felt some emotions. But there was nothing logical about this situation. Half of Mars had gone insane, and he had nearly died. In his hands he held the only thing that kept him from being destroyed by that creature Kane had summoned, that thing Kane called a void god. It was a golden mask forged by the Emperor himself, and the monster had roared in fear at the very sight of it. This mask had saved him, as both the things maddened by the wave of that program, that Scrap-Code, and the unholy things from the Dark Age of Technology feared it, claiming it anathema. He knew now where his loyalties lied, for even if the Emperor was a Terran Warlord who conquered Mars, he was much better than the things he protected Mars from. He put the mask on his face, it interlocking with his machines, and he would wear it until his destruction.

* * *

Eventually, as Vulkans forces neared the solar system Perturabo launched a final strike against the Dark Mechanicus. Perturabo knew the nature of warfare was a harsh one, and while every single death he could have prevented tore at him, he knew that the protection of the Imperial Palace was the most important goal. But the grim algorithm of war revealed that if the Dark Mechanicus was not stopped, or at least made a manageable threat, then the traitor legions chances of victory increased exponentially. In his mind, he saw the grey goo's unmake the palace walls, the traitor titans break the inner palace, and the twisted Scrap-Code taint the works of the Emperor himself, and he could not allow that to happen.

An entire company of the Iron Warriors was led by a triarch to liberate Mars from the Dark Mechanicus. It is unknown which triarch it was, for whatever he saw during the battle of the Noctis Labyrinthus caused him to discard his name and until his death he was called one thing, the Warsmith. The first action was to break the siege of Olympus Mons, and with that he was joined by Kelbor Hal and a massive host of the loyalist Mechanicus forces. Kelbor Hal led from the front and participated in such battles as the Breaking of the Face and the Downfall of the Kirban Machine, the leader of the abominable intelligences not corrupted by chaos. It is known that Kelbor Hal met his end during the battle of the Noctis Labyrinthus, and only the golden mask given to him by the Emperor was recovered. All fabricator generals have worn this mask until their deaths, a visual dedication to the Omnissiah's mortal avatar. Lukas Chrom became the new fabricator general, and alongside the Warsmith and the higher ups of the Imperium perpetuated the Lie of Iron.

* * *

The Lie of Iron

The Imperium is built upon a fabric of lies, all of them necessary for mankind to survive in a hostile galaxy. The biggest such lie, one that would break anyone who is not an Astarte or has high enough clearance to read these files, is that the Emperor is a god. He is not a god, merely the most powerful member of humanity, and refused to be worshiped when he walked amongst his subjects. In fact, calling him a god was what planted the seeds of heresy in his sons, for his harsh rebuke of Sanguinius was what drove him to the worship of the Dark Gods. In addition, the Lectitio Divinitatus was not written by Lorgar but by Sanguinius, and Lorgar merely made modifications and additions to it, realizing that mankind needed religion once more. A smaller lie, though one just as important, is the Lie of Iron.

This lie is that the Iron Warriors and loyalist Mechanicus succeeded at driving all of the Hereteks and their twisted minions from Mars. A great many of them were driven from Mars and joined the traitor forces, Cawl and Kane amongst them, but not all fled or were destroyed. Some went underground, deeper than the noctis labyrinth, and they created the twisted civilizations that are known as the techno-hells, for lack of a better word.

The techno-hells are all corrupted by chaos or by horrible xenos technology, with daemons summoned in metal bodies and dark tech abominations, each of which hates each other but ultimately hate the Imperium and the Adeptus Mechanicus more. There is no law of sanity or goodness that has not been broken in these unholy places, and much of the Mechanicus's forces are dedicated to keeping the techno-hells imprisoned. It is only the power of the thing sealed in the Noctis Labyrinth that allows some of Mar's forces to aid the Imperium at large, as no being of the techno-hells is foolish or crazy enough to disturb the being trapped there.

* * *

The Siege of Terra: the duel of iron and stone

When Vulkans forces entered the solar system they immediately faced Perturabo's defenses, many great wards, and powerful weapons. Indeed, one such weapon was the creation of Leman Russ, a null bomb that countered psychic powers using purely material methods. Daemonships were banished by these weapons, but it was Dorn who led the efforts to siege Terra. Soon, enough carnage was made that the materium was split and Daemons rampaged across the solar system. They attacked all worlds, focusing their efforts on Terra and Titan, ensuring the inquisition and the grey knights could not intervene.

It was Perturabo's genius that allowed the loyalist forces to endure the siege, directing forces where they were needed and countering Dorn's stratagems. When word reached Terra of the returning loyalist legions, freed from the Ruinstorm through means unknown, he had hope once more. With two loyal legions breaking the flanks of the traitors the Imperium would win. Indeed, the death of Roboute by Lorgar and the banishment of Corvus Corax by Angron and the resulting slaughter of the raven guard, it seemed the chaotic forces would be destroyed.

Then the Flamewrought lowered its shields, and Perturabo realized there were only two ways the battle would end. The first was that the Emperor would lead a force into the Flamewrought and destroy Vulkan. The second was that Vulkan would lead an intrusion into the palace to try to kill the Emperor and end the heresy. Perturabo knew that the Emperor would choose the first and gathered his forces to aid his father. Thus he was teleported into the twisted Gloriana, and like the rest of the imperial forces he was scattered across the corrupted corridors. Most of the Space Marines were driven mad by the sights, the faces protruding from the bulkheads, the shapeless things grabbing and clawing at them from the impossibly dark shadows, and the daemonic voices that taunted them. Like the others who had joined the Emperor in this desperate strike Perturabo and those forces who had not been driven insane slaughtered hordes of things that had at some point been human while the corridors shifted, and the sounds of wailing and gibbering assaulted their ears.

Soon Perturabo was alone, as every Iron Warrior he had brought either required the Emperors mercy or had fallen valiantly in battle, and the Iron Circle of machines that he had repaired on Olympia and had functioned as his bodyguards had all been reduced to sparking piles of scrap metal. This is believed to be because of Perturabo's status in the great game of Chaos. The Primarchs and the champions of both the Imperium and Chaos are essentially more important "pieces" in the game. The heresy was always going to end with the Emperor and Vulkan dueling on the bridge of the Flamewrought. But those whose names were not remembered were just pieces, even the Custodes who joined in the assault were just extras to be discarded. The Mournival managed to stay with Horus because of their importance, but Perturabo had left the Trident to direct the defense of the palace.

Then as Perturabo continued alone, he was confronted by Rogal Dorn. Dorn was completely insane at this point, his insanity worsened by the visions Tzeentch was giving him, sights of timelines where he had made the imperial palace and Perturabo was the one futily trying to break it. He lifted Storm's Teeth, now a weapon that was truly dedicated to Tzeentch, and charged at his rival. The fight between the two was a harsh one, the hammer Forgebreaker clashing with the chattering blades of the chainsword. The duel was a moving one, as Perturabo still tried to find the bridge, hoping to aid his father. During the fight Rogal Dorn babbled Tzeentchian madness, but one line he spoke would forever hinder chaos and earn Rogal and his legion the ire of all who resided in the warp storms.

* * *

"If our situations were reversed, I would drag you back to Terra in an iron cage!"

Rogal Dorn, Shouted at the top of his lungs

* * *

Then suddenly the presence of the Chaos gods left the solar system, and Rogal Dorn was temporarily incapitated as Tzeentch fled the full power of the Emperor. Perturabo then hit Rogal in his nards with Forgebreaker and he rushed to the bridge to aid his father. He reached the bridge, the corridors no longer shifting, and found his father on the verge of death. With the Mournival's aid he interred his father on the golden throne per his wishes, thereby ending the heresy.

The Scouring: the First Damnation of Janus

No matter how much Perturabo wanted to lead his legion in the scouring, he knew his services were better spent rebuilding the solar system. Indeed, the Imperial Palace was half destroyed. The threat of chaos or a hostile xenos empire taking advantage of the weakened solar system was too great, and thus while Lorgar rebuilt the political and spiritual structure of the Imperium Perturabo rebuilt the physical structure of the Imperium. That is not to say the Iron Warriors didn't take part in the scouring, as Perturabo let loose the trident. The famous Iron Cage incident was the direct responsibility of Harkor, a member of the trident since the Great Crusade, who built the Aquila fortress from Perturabo's plans.

However, something started to happen that most considered impossible. Daemons started to appear in the solar system. The final blow the Emperor unleashed that annihilated Vulkan and vaporize his body also meant it was impossible for the cell monsters of the Chaos Gods to manifest in the home system of humanity. The only exceptions being in the techno hells and the broken remnants of the Imperial Webway, both of those places being so saturated with Chaotic energy that only their complete annihilation would unmake the summoning zones of Daemons. Yet something was summoning Daemons and allowing them to wreak havoc on the solar system. Each was banished by Lorgar once they were discovered, and these brief instances of combat greatly reduced Lorgar's stress over rebuilding the Imperium.

On the mining world of Mercury, a undivided Daemon resembling a small child surrounded by canary's lured miners away from safety and into traps and the natural hazards of mining. Born from the harshness of child labor and the cruelty of those who forced innocents to labor in unsafe conditions. Each of its canary's was the spectral imprint of a canary that suffocated to warn miners of poison gas. By pulling on the heartstrings and curiosity of the miners, it greatly impacted the supplies coming from Mercury.

In the Underhives of Terra, a Khornite Daemon of inequality led the mutant undercastes in an uprising. It was born during the American Civil War, from the blood shed as brother fought brother in a war born from the hypocrisy of a country praising freedom keeping slaves. It resembled a member of the long dead hate group known as the Ku Klux Klan; its white robes stained red with blood. Unlike most Khornite Daemons, it rarely shed blood personally but instead inspired others to do so. It made fiery sermons inspiring mutants to rebel, speaking of the hypocrisy of how some deviations from the human genome were praised while others were hated. The Mutant uprisings led by this monster took necessary forces away from the Scouring.

In the pleasure station orbiting Venus a Slanneshi Daemon caused entire families to kill each other, turning brother against brother with her feminine wiles. She was different to every observer, being the perfect ideal of beauty. She was born from an ancient legend, where a princess's beauty started a horrible war that lasted for a decade. It is unknown if this actually happened, but the popularity of this story ensured that a Daemon was born.

In manufactoriums across the solar system horrible fires burned, destroying the factory's, and killing all of the workers. The daemon responsible was an undivided being, resembling a woman burning eternally, suffering pain and never gaining release. It was born from the deadliest industrial accident in the history of long-gone New York city, where 146 garment workers perished from a blaze. The screams of pain and horror from these tragic deaths ensured a Daemon was formed, inflicting the same fate on others.

On Luna, those Selanar who had stayed loyal came under attack by a few Daemons, and their goals was the destruction of irreplaceable Selanar geneworks and biotech. The first was a Daemon of Nurgle, born from the horrible bubonic plague. During the middle ages fleas on rats infected the continent of Europe and killed 25 million people over the course of centuries. During this plague there were plague doctors who worked under a false perception that the disease was spread through the air. Forever afterwards, humanity would associated the tall bird masked figures of the plague doctors with horrible plagues. It was inevitable that a Nurgleite daemon would be born from this image.

The second was a Tzeentchian Daemon appearing like African man with bullet holes all across his body. He was born from a genocide amongst an African nation known as Rwanda. While the horrible act of genocide inevitably births a Daemon, it is usually one that is not bound to any god. What made this Daemon different was the cause and aftermath of this horrible conflict. A system of racial class was established in Rwanda, and those at the bottom rebelled. What truly drove this Daemon to Tzeentch was the fact that the caste system was merely reversed instead of abandoned. This pointless change was enough to make this daemon a servant of Tzeentch.

The third was the most powerful and the most horrible, a creature of chaos undivided born of the greatest atrocity mankind had committed. In the second world war, the Nazi's forced the Jewish people and other undesirables into the concentration camps, killing millions. This horrible event created a Daemon of much power, feared and despised by even the Chaos Gods themselves. It took the form of a Germanic man clad in Nazi livery, breathing and surrounded by poisonous gases like those used in the camps, and those it killed only left behind their shoes. Notably this monster was the only Daemon truly killed instead of banished, for not even the Ruinous Powers wanted this being to continue blighting the galaxy.

In the kitchens of the royalty of Terra, many innocents fell sick as the cook was in fact a Daemon Princess of Nurgle. In her mortal life she earned the name that all know her by, and the name she now goes by. That name is Typhoid Mary, and while only three deaths could be confirmed, an estimated 50 deaths were attributed to her. Her favor in Nurgles eyes was ensured by the fact that she was the first typhoid carrier to show no symptoms and the fact that Typhoid Mary became a term for those who spread Nurgles Love, whether knowingly or not. Usually Typhoid Mary cooked for Isha when Nurgle couldn't and showed no outward signs of Nurgles Love, just like when she lived.

In the Underhives a Khornite Daemon ensured gangs massacred each other on holidays, bolters and las weapons firing. Born from the saint valentine's day massacre in 1929, it resembled a man wearing red and pink, with many hearts bedazzling him. He resembled a ganger from the prohibition wearing a suit themed on the long dead holiday of Saint Valentine. He represented not only the massacre from which he was born but also all of the bloodshed in the name of love.

In the great halls of art and culture, the sound of violin music played and suddenly people began wreaking havoc, burning and destroying great works of art and annihilating artifacts from the age of terra. Those who heard the violin believed, often incorrectly, that they could rebuilt it better. The cause of this was a Slanneshi Daemon, born from the ancient legend of the Great Fire of Rome. In popular culture of the age of terra it was believed that the roman emperor of the time started the fire and played his violin while his city burned. While it is unconfirmed if this happened, and if it did the roman played a lyre, but the popularity of this story meant that when Slannesh was born one of her many Daemons was based on this story. Its physical appearance was that of a roman emperor playing a violin, eternally surrounded by devastation.

In the Jovian shipyards, many expert pilots suddenly went mad and crashed their ships into vital places. Over the vox they screamed praises to various concepts and gods, both real and imaginary. Many times the beings they praised where things they had no way of knowing. It was a undivided Daemon born of the kamikaze maneuver from world war 2, and then by the very concept and actions of suicide bombers. It resembled an old airplane, for the airplane was the most commonly used method of this horrible tactic.

On Pluto, the augur arrays came under attack by a strange and malicious code that disrupted vital communications and drove many insane with strange backwards messages, and from those singular infected people sprouted new chaos cults. These new cultists work with those cults that went to ground after the disastrous failure of chaos at the siege of Terra. Those tech magi on Pluto who knew of Scrap-code stated that this thing was fundamentally different from this code. Indeed, it was of a Tzeentchian bent, and was born of the fear of subliminal messages. It was first truly sparked by the fear of backwards messages in music, and every fear of secret messages corrupting weak minds. In form this being is identical to a chaos corrupted Vanus temple member, a spectral lighting being composed of maddening computer code. Occasionally this has meant the death of an important imperial official as the firewards that repel corrupted Vanus temple assassins do not work on this tzeentchian daemon, and the fact that their methods of killing are completely different. Where a corrupted Vanus member will turn technology against their target this tzeentchian daemon will turn other people against their target.

In the continent once known as México an ancient evil was resurrected. There were mighty ziggurats which were once the dark temples of the blood lords, techno-barbarians wielding the ancient blood magic of the Aztecs. The blood lords had praised the Aztec pantheon, and it is unknown if the Aztec gods were real. Maybe they were and either became lords of the warp in service to Khorne or were destroyed by the blood god for defying him. Or maybe they never existed, and where just the product of sentient life's tendency to make and worship deities. Or the most troubling theory, that these Aztec gods were all faces of Khorne. The old blood lords were thrown down by the legion that would become the Raven Guard, and some Inquisitors have made grand thesis and academic debates over whether the Raven Guard were always going to be corrupted by Slannesh based on the rivalry between Slannesh and Khorne. While it unknown if the old blood lords served Khorne, but it is a fact that the new blood lords did. The Daemon of Khorne who made the new blood lords was born of the bloody sacrifices made by the Aztecs and impowered by every bloody sacrifice in the name of a god. It resembled a coatl of Aztec myth, made of blood and having wings of fire, with an aura of pure zealotry that drove any with religious tendency's to madness. This was its downfall as the word bearers sent to destroy it focused their rage upon destroying the blood lords and banishing the Daemon.

In the many halls of the imperium's nobility and important facilities, females became seduced and tricked into sabotaging vital points of supplies. Not even the Custodes where immune to the charms of this Slanneshi Daemon. Born of the most famous lover in human history, Casanova, either from the idea of Casanova or from real person, it embodied the perfect lover. To each being this daemon appeared different, the perfect figure of masculine beauty. Indeed this being was responsible for the death of three craftworlds from his seduction of a single Farseer.

In the mines of Jupiter vital orders were misunderstood and miscommunicated, resulting in the death of many in both mine accidents and a lack of resources. It was soon revealed that a Tzeentchian Daemon was manipulating all communications, and its nature meant not even Astropathic communications were safe from its influence. This being was born of an ancient legend from the Abrahamic religions, which were present for almost all of human history, predominant for most of it and even survived the age of strife until during the unification wars when the Emperor met Uriah, the last priest of terra, and through logic and debate managed to convince Uriah of the Emperor's rightfulness and allowed him to cast off the bad parts of his faith while keeping the good parts, the virtues that were the same as those of the Imperial Truth. Indeed, Uriah became the first messenger of the Imperial Truth until he died of natural causes, an old and fulfilled man surrounded by loving family. However a legend of the Abrahamic faith known as the tower of babel, which was an explanation as to why people spoke different languages. The creature Tzeentch made from this legend was a living tower made of faces, each speaking a different language at the same time.

But the last was the Lord of the Flies, the first of Nurgle's Daemon Princes. It was born of a xenos race that died long before Holy Terra was even formed, it's title in the whispers of the warp being simply the Beast. It has a Porcine head and the body of a tribal humanoid bloated with the love of Nurgle, and it laughs in a parody of the joyous sound emitted by a dark forest. But what was worse was that it relied not on its strength but on the fact that it represents the inner savagery of mankind, making it similar to the space wolves. However like all other servants of Nurgle it finds the space wolves distasteful, for they are only savages and refuse all signs of disease nor do they spread Nurgle's love. It manifested aboard the Phalanx, seized by the Iron Warriors as the Imperial Fists fled the solar system. This mighty warp capable battle station was undergoing purification and the psykers who were doing so were watched by the Custodes. However the Lord of the Flies manifested aboard this ship, essentially a Tzeentchian Daemon World, and used its twisted rhetoric to cause the laborers to rebel. Those who listened and fell to the unnatural buzzing voice gave into their base nature and it took the Custodes and Lorgar working together to banish this being, the equal of Doombreed. This epic battle saw the Nurglite influence cancel out the Tzeentchian influence and the death of all the Custodes aboard the Phalanx.

This incident caused Lorgar to contact Magnus, who confirmed their fears. These attacks were not random or the work of some chaotic warlord but a powerful psyker who was a higher up in the Imperium chain of command. It had to be someone who could undo the Emperor's lingering power that kept Daemons at bay. It also had to be someone who knew not only which places in the solar system were vital to the scouring but also of the continued existence of the Phalanx. Even as the Phalanx orbits between Mars and Terra few associate it with the Tzeentchian fortress that earned the title of the Daemon Luna. No, what most people see is the Sky Fortress of Perturabo, which has suffered great damage in the 13th black crusade. To the Night Lords and Alpha Legion members who investigated this problem there was only one organization that had these qualities, the newly formed Inquisition.

However, even as these two legions interrogated the secret police and managed to cause the Inquisition as a whole to be more moral, Perturabo set aside his labors temporarily to investigate a newly founded origination that he believed responsible. This organization was the only member of the secret Second Founding, the Grey Knights. Only Perturabo could fathom that these Astartes who bore the Emperor's Gift could turn traitor, for he knew that even those who were enhanced by the Emperor himself could in fact be disloyal. He remembered the tale of Amon, the Custodes traitor who during the unification wars destroyed a village in Australia proclaiming some nonsense about the Emperor being Cain the first murderer. Said tale was unknown to all but the Primarchs and the Custodes as well as the Emperor himself, but it provided the train of thought that Perturabo pursued.

He looked at the first generation of Grey Knights, those born of Malcador's Knights Errant and the Blackshields. These Grey Knights originated in other Astarte groups, be they loyalist legions or the traitor legions, and unlike the Grey Knights after them the first generation had only been enhanced in there geneseeds, not having the original Grey Knight geneseed formed from the Emperor's own genome and the most chaos resistant genetic strains of all 20 Primarchs. Any corruption originating from the geneseed could affect the first generation, and he knew that chaotic corruption could affect anyone so the Knights Errant were not spared. While all Grey Knights were psykers of much power only the first generation was high ranking enough to pull off the targeting of these summonings. Indeed, the combination of these two factors was why he didn't interrogate the Custodes, for none of them were psykers. Indeed, by the very nature of the Custodes they could never have psychic powers. Eventually Perturabo found the traitor, and it shocked him. The traitor was none other than Janus, the first chapter master of the Grey Knights.

* * *

Janus the thrice damned

The being known as Janus was born of two beings, from the soul shard of Magnus the red which was torn from the Primarch alongside his eye and the Rune priest Ohthere Wyrdmake. This rune priest was one of the Blackshields and was essentially the prototype for the Grey Knights. He was merged with the soul shard by Malcador, inadvertently creating a new being. This soul shard originated in the same event that saw Magnus freed from Tzeentch, namely his exploration into the Cave of Lies, a ritualistic vision quest into what is most likely a corrupted Webway gate where those who enter confront Tzeentch directly. This ritual was discontinued by Magnus once he gained power, but whatever happened to him in the cave scarred him forever. He lost his right eye, but that was only the physical scars that he endured. Tzeentch is a petty being, and will rarely relinquish his toys, breaking them if he cannot keep them. When Magnus freed himself of Tzeench's puppet strings a part of his soul was torn off. Magnus did quickly heal from this metaphysical injury, but the soul shard made its way to the Imperial dungeon where it would be found by Malcador and Wyrdmake. It was unknown at the time what part of Magnus this soul shard represented, and thus Malcador implanted it into the rune priest. However, in the aftermath of the third damnation the newly formed Ordo Universium would deduce that this soul shard was the same one that would fall to Tzeentch in so many universes. Namely, it was Magnus's pride and desire to eternally prove he was smarter than everyone else.

Wyrdmake was a rune priest who held the same views that the Thousand Sons held about the psykers of the Space Wolves and White Scars legions, namely that their differences were cultural in nature and should be respected. This fact, plus his friendship with Azhek Ahriman, caused him to be recruited to the aiders of the work, those psykers who helped Malcador, The Emperor and Magnus in the construction of the Imperial Webway. Even when he became Janus, he argued for the aiders. It was him that allowed those aiders who, for whatever reason, could not gain the Emperor's Gift to still be of use to the Grey Knights in the form of the Grey Squires.

When he was implanted with the soul shard of Magnus, he essentially became the Primarch of the Grey Knights. It was he who gave the Emperor the idea for the 666th chapter. And it would seem the Grey Knights were completely loyal, an all psyker chapter based on the moon of Titan, hidden in the warp for the majority of the Heresy, and alongside the nascent Inquisition were prevented from aiding the loyalist forces on Terra by Argonis and a horde of chaotic forces. As for why he turned traitor, there are three causes that are generally accepted.

The first is his nature as a Space Wolf, which was one of the traitor legions whose fall could be proven to lie in genetics. During the Rotting of Prospero the curse of the Wulfen came to the fore, and Leman Russ made a deal with Nurgle to save his legion, tearing out his left eye to seal the deal. While the Wulfen still exist, they are relatively rare. However a side effect of this deal was that all who bore the gene seed of the sixth legion would be insidiously turned to Leman Russ's hypocritical views, that his rune priests aren't psykers and that his legion has fallen to chaos not because of their degenerate nature but because of Magnus and his witches putting poison in the Emperors mind. This corruption, this hypocritical and incorrect belief system is now a fundamental part of all who bear the Space Wolf Geneseed, and every Space Wolf from the lowliest Blood Claw to the highest Wolf Lord believes these lies and know them to be true to their very core. Janus was ultimately a Space Wolf not a Grey Knight, the Emperor's Gift and its complete immunity to chaotic corruption was ultimately an add on, not a fundamental part of him. Thus unlike the Grey Knights, he could not resist the poisonous beliefs that drive the Space Wolves. But the fact that he had a soul shard of Magnus meant he also knew down to his core that the Rune Priests were psykers and that the Space Wolves were responsible for their own fall. The Cognitive dissonance that arose from this undoubtedly helped to break his sanity and lead to his embrace of the dark gods.

The second reason was the whispers of the Changeling. During the Siege of Terra Argonis led a massive attack on the moon of titan, keeping the two newly made organizations from aiding the Emperor. His forces were made up of cultists, creatures of the Baatorian Empire and of course Daemons, and during the month-long battle that only ended with the annihilation of Vulkan and the mortal wounding of the Emperor Janus was seemingly absent. It was only at the end of the siege. when the Emperor's sacrifice banished all Daemons in the solar system, that Janus fought. He killed Argonis with a mighty blade covered in runes, which he had taken a month to forge for the very purpose of killing the Herald. However, during this process the Changeling had come to him in the form of a Grey Squire. The Changeling gave accurate reports, but underling his words were chaos magic that spread memetic madness. These whispers exacerbated his Cognitive dissonance and made him more open to the idea of serving the Chaos Gods.

The third reason, the one that put him over the edge, was the connection to the main Magnus his soul shard shared. No one can claim to understand how the soul works, but Janus could feel what Magnus felt. As such he felt the joy Magnus undoubtedly felt during the Burning of Fenris, and this happiness as his home burned was what broke him.

Janus is now a faceless mockery of a Grey Knight with power equal to a Daemon Primarch and stays upon a chaos sun at the center of the cabal system. In his twisted citadel he plays the great game and devises new rituals to aid the long war. His ascension was bought by the three damnations of Janus, three revelations of unwanted truths that broke the sense of safety the galaxy possessed. It matters not how long these truths were revealed, so long as they were. The first truth is that chaos is not a defeated foe and that none are incorruptible. The second truth is that the Rubric is not perfect and can be perverted, as shown by the resurrection and corruption of the Blood Ravens. The third truth is that nowhere is safe from the powers of chaos, as shown by the attack on the Black Library.

* * *

Using the true names gathered by Ctesias and the power of the Warp Nexus, Janus had managed to summon these twelve Daemons. Perturabo led a force of Iron Warriors and Custodies against the Cabal, and thus began the battle of Titan. Janus was stopped from summoning the ancient Daemon Princess Lilith, which seemed to be his ultimate plan. If he had summoned the thirteenth Daemon he would have started a Warp Storm that would have destroyed the Solar System, finishing what Vulkan had started. However, like in his other damnations the true goal of Janus was achieved even if a grand victory for chaos was lost, as is the nature of chaos. In this case, the Solar System was once more vulnerable to Daemonic incursions and the Warp Nexus was damaged, meaning that Titan could no longer return to its halfway point between the material and the Warp. Thus Titan is eternally vulnerable, and the Grey Knights still struggle to keep the Warp Nexus stable.

Once the Warp Nexus was damaged the Cabal escaped to the Forge World Deimos, moved from its orbit around Mars to one around Titan by ancient and arcane technology. Thus began the battle of Deimos, as the Imperial forces fought against chaos corrupted Skittani and servitors. Then the smog wreathed skies were forcibly cleared as the last shard of the two headed dragon C'tan Baudros was summoned. This shard then spirited away the Cabal and would meet its end at some point before the Second Damnation of Janus. None know what killed Baudros, as none of the Cabal will speak of it. Indeed the only reason Baudros is known to be dead is the Heldrake Abomination is an attempt to recreate this being. While the nature of the C'tan means that this attempt failed, the Abomination is still much more powerful than an average Heldrake.

Post-Heresy: The rise of the Iron Cages

In the aftermath of the Scouring, Perturabo began a great project on the scale of the fortifying of Terra. He began building the Iron Cages around the four grand Warpstorms. Normally this would be folly, as space travel existed in four dimensions and thus a two-dimensional cage would be insufficient. However the nature of the Warp Storms meant that those attempting to escape from these galactic hells must go through choke points, such as Cadia. While small groups could get out other places none of these groups could truly threaten the Imperium at large, and thus the Iron Cage worlds could usually handle them. But a true chaos crusade, one that could damage the Imperium, needed to go through one of these choke points. Perturabo made the Iron Cages despite the Imperium's belief that the Traitors had died in the galactic hells they had fled to, but Perturabo knew that was wishful thinking. He was soon proven right as the first Black Crusade attacked, with the Flamewrought at its head. While the term Black Crusade is in fact a general term for a massive chaotic incursion, most associate it with the thirteen such invasions led by the Forgefather.

The First Black Crusade, like all of the Black Crusades led by the Forgefather, had the ultimate purpose of ensuring Vulkan's return. The first was like twelfth, third and seventh in that the ultimate purpose was not to acquire one of the artifacts of vulkan but to acquire a powerful advantage. Like the third, the ultimate goal was Drach'nyen the daemon blade whose origin is in the first murder. This unholy weapon which is in the possession of the Forgefather has gained him the respect of even those chaotic lords who seek for Vulkan to stay dead, for he has used it for thousands of years where even immortal Daemons have been found dead a mere month after grasping its hilt. This weapon has been the death of many high-ranking Imperials, having ended the life of Abbadon during the first crusade and the life of Angron himself in the Third Black Crusade, bisecting the Primarch of the World Eaters during the melee of the Impossible Mountain.

But Perturabo fought on Cadia, and while the Forgefather went to Uralan to gain the End of Empires and then lose it to Abbadon and a Sons of Horus strike force the Primarch of the Iron Warriors fought against the Flamewrought. He knew more about the nature of Chaos than most, and he knew that a chaos corrupted Gloriana was not only a major tactical advantage in the war but also an irreplaceable piece in the great game. The Salamanders had lost the favor of the Dark Gods, and the Flamewrought was a deterrent for the servants of these gods to express their displeasure. Thus Perturabo led a tactical strike team directly into the corrupted Gloriana with the goal of destroying it.

Using his knowledge of what the Flamewrought had become Perturabo destroyed the mighty Gloriana. While the Forgefather managed to build a battle barge of the same name out of the pieces of the Flamewrought, it wasn't the same as a true Gloriana. Perturabo is believed to have died in this action, but some believe that the Primarch still lives. This theory is supported by the fact that Perturabo's body was never found, and those who believe Perturabo still lives point to him possibly having been shunted to some point in time and space when he destroyed the warp drive of the Flamewrought. But the Iron Warriors do not believe that there Primarch is alive, for all their idealism and hope they are also realists. If Perturabo still lived he would send some sign to his gene sons, or there would be some sign of his actions. No Primarch can truly hide their presence, and no sign of Perturabo being alive has arisen.

For many years, the Iron Warriors manned the walls of the Iron Cages, weathering attacks from within and without. The fortress worlds frequently became infested with cultists, and innumerable chaos crusades have been stopped by the Iron Warriors. The cages have endured many attacks from the Baatorian empire and Ork Waaghs seeking good fighting in the form of the warp storm inhabitants. But recently, the Iron Warriors encountered their greatest threat.

The Tau were first discovered by a Mechanicus ship in M35, but at the time the Tau were experiencing what became known as Mont'au, which translates to "the terror" or "death age". It seemed the Tau would destroy themselves, and the Age of Apostacy soon distracted the Imperium from this minor race. But in M36 the Ethereals appeared and united the Tau, and they began expanding the Tau Empire. In M37 they had expanded into world controlled by the Imperium, and given they gave the choice of surrender the Imperium didn't deem them an enemy. Soon they were met by a Word Bearer Iterator squad as was standard procedure when encountering a species that could become part of the Imperium. Soon a dialogue between them and the Water Caste was established, and the Word Bearers were confident that the Tau empire would be integrated without incident. After all, the only real sins that could be attributed to the Tau were naivety and lack of melee combat, both of which were easily fixable.

Sadly, negotiations broke down as the Farsight Enclaves turned traitor, and the Tau themselves proved ignorant of Chaos. The Damocles Gulf conflict ensured, and the Imperium managed to maintain frosty relationships with the Tau Empire. However, as long as the Ethereals command the Tau to the point of willing suicide and the Tau people don't realize the dangers of Chaos there is no hope of integration. The Imperium's conflicts with the Tau Empire have all been purely defensive, keeping the naive species from unleashing a chaotic threat upon the Galaxy. The same cannot be said of the Farsight enclaves, corrupted by chaos and having holdings in both the Hadex Anomaly and the twisted Scourge Stars.

But now as the 41st millennium ends, the Iron Warriors are even harder pressed than usual. They defend against the 13th Black Crusade, and the Iron Cage around the Ruinstorm is attacked by the Tau in their Fourth Sphere Expedition. More ominously, there are reports that Kor Phareon, the Specter King and leader of the Covenant Reborn, has made overtures to his ally Commander Farsight. Now the Farsight Enclaves gather for an ominous purpose, one that does not bode well for the galaxy at large. However, even as the end times come the Iron Warriors dig in as they have always done. Their jobs are thankless but necessary, and not even the apocalypse will sway them from their purpose.

Organization

The Iron Warriors are one of the most divided legions, as while all legions have spread across the galaxy the Iron Warriors are stretched thinnest. Of course mistaking this for weakness has been the death of countless foes of the Imperium. They are stationed on worlds across the Imperium, but most of their forces are concentrated on the Iron Cages and the Solar System. In the wake of Perturabo's sacrifice the Trident has taken over control of the legion, and they are also scattered. One always stays on Olympia, while the second controls the Phalanx and the third travels the Iron Cages.

Homeworld

The main home world of the Iron Warriors is undoubtedly Olympia, the world upon which Perturabo landed. This world is a grand place with sprawling and grand architectural creations. None can match the palace of Perturabo, the fortress-monastery of the Iron Warriors. This was Perturabo's grandest construction save the Imperial Palace and was built by the Primarch after the Scouring ended but before he manned the Iron Cages. This mighty palace has four grand tombs, each one containing a member of Perturabo's mortal family. In the center is a grand tomb meant to contain the mortal remains of the Primarch, but since his body was never found the throne his body was to rest upon remains empty.

The Phalanx is a warp capable battle station once controlled by the Imperial Fists but was taken from them and claimed by the Iron Warriors during the retreat from Terra. It was then purified and rededicated to the service of the Imperium. It serves as the fortress-monastery of the Iron Warriors based in the solar system. Many have been the battles aboard the Phalanx, as its chaotic taint has never fully been purged. In the lower decks where once cells that held those Imperial Fist Librarians who offended Rogal Dorn, either by staying loyal or contradicting his ever-maddening whims. Through Alpha Legion spies, these loyalist Imperial Fists played a vital role in allowing the Iron Warriors to capture the space fortress, at the cost of their own lives. These cells, called the Cells of Chaos by the superstitious mortals who crew the Phalanx, are a dormant rift. It was here that the Lord of the Flies manifested, and in M33 Samus himself manifested, requiring the intervention of Angron. As such a squad of Cusodes are permanently stationed aboard the Phalanx and bombs are ever ready to vaporize this great battle station.

There are also many minor worlds that bear caches of Iron Warrior Gene seed but are not publicly recognized by the Iron Warriors. On at least one occasion the Rock has been sent to defend a hidden world from the Tau. These worlds are usually close to one of the Iron Cages, but not so close that the gene seed can be mutated by the warp storm emissions.

Combat Doctrine

The Iron Warriors are most concentrated on the Iron Cages, and this shows in their tactics. They fight best in the trenches and when defending fortresses. Unlike other legions, they are pragmatic in the extreme. More adept with the weight of a hammer than the lightness of a sword, they know and embrace the value of traps and so called "dishonorable" tactics. There librarians are experts in the arts of sigils and wards, as they constantly reinforce the defenses of the Iron Cages. They are also responsible for those warbands who use the rituals of Janus to bypass the Iron Cages.

Beliefs

To those who distrust the Space marines, the Iron Warriors are heartless and cultureless brutes who long ago tore down the glory of the Imperial Palace. Again this is an oversimplification, for in truth the Iron Warriors can be summed up in one oxymoronic phrase: Pragmatic Idealists. They are all artists and could so easily create glorious fortresses of precious metals and gates made of gems. But they would be besieged and warped, made ugly by their service. Only when there is finally peace will they embrace beauty, crafting the glorious works of art they constantly design in their minds. But they know full well that the dream of peace died when the Emperor was put upon the Golden Throne. They accept the grunt work willingly, knowing these thankless jobs need to be done. They ultimately do not want glory for war and death, and so they do not even pretend that it exists. But they bear no hatred for this, and all of Perturabo's sons dream of a day when their hammers can finally craft glorious monuments instead of casting down nightmares.

Recruitment and geneseed

One would think the Iron Warriors geneseed would be the most mutated of all the loyal legions, considering that most of the legion is based on the Iron Cages which surround the four great warp storms. But it is relatively untouched by warp energies. This is because most of the Iron Warrior gene stores are located on out of the way worlds, far enough from the Iron Cages to be unaffected by Warp based mutations but close enough for at least one Iron Warrior chapter to come to their defense. Occasionally the attacks have been severe enough to require the Rock's intervention, but the Iron Warriors can handle themselves well. The apothecaries also harvest the Progenoids of the new space marines as soon as they manifest, which are then sent to one of the many gene stores.

The majority of Iron Warriors come from Olympia, as well as from the Solar System. But all Iron Warrior recruitment worlds (save Holy Terra) have a single feature. All the loyal legions have a so called "final test" to prove a Scout is worthy of becoming a true space marine. For the emperor's children and the thousand sons these are more esoteric, taking the form of the Wandering and the casting of the Rubric. Others are more mundane, like the trials of the Sons of Horus and the Night Lords. The Iron Warriors final test is somewhere in the middle, as the scout must battle in the Ring of Stone. This structure is a gran arena, very similar to the Arena of Angron used by the World Eaters. In the Ring of Stone a prospective Iron Warrior undergoes a vision of his future as an Iron Warrior, enduring a life of hardship and battle in mere moments. The stress of this is great, and should a scout survive this he has proven themselves worthy of being an Iron Warrior.

Warcry

The Iron Warrior battle cry is a simple shout of "Iron Within, Iron Without!". While most of the loyal legions have no specialized battle crys as a way of insulting their foes, the Iron Warriors just don't care about warfare enough to make another battle cry.

* * *

Author notes

Ok, so I have Perturabo bonding with his family, Dammekos being nicer and being found as a child. This solves most of the problems that caused him to fall. As for Perturabo seeking glory but accepting grunt work, I can't really make sense of that. So I have my Perturabo wanting glory in things worthy be glorified, aka artistic pursuits.

Barabas Dantioch is basically canon Perturabo.

I originally planned for the Gedehams slave general to whip out a bolter that Perturabo made for Rogal, but decided against it

As for why I have Kane turning traitor, I am trying to be closer to a true good guy bad guy swap, the imperium is good in this case. For example, imperium knight houses in canon are chaos knight houses in the volcanic heresy. I cannot be completely accurate in this, after all if I were doing a true complete swap the Emperor would be a bad guy. So some people stay their alignment, like Argonis the herald of Horus who summoned Doombreed (he stays corrupted mainly because I didn't know how to make him stay loyal or didn't care to).

The Karos Graveyard comes from the evil that men do, the first alternate heresy I encountered on the alternate history site. It was a Necron hide out and had a C'tan shard in it, but it wasn't the Nightbringer. I don't know what C'tan it was, it was a serpent thing.

The void dragon being the only unshattered C'tan and being imprisoned in mars is my head canon if it's not canon.

For the Gal Vorback, they earned this name not by becoming the first possessed marines but for there heroism during the shadow war fought in the Ruinstorm.

The lie of iron is obviously the iron lie from the Robutian heresy, I just thought it was such a good idea. Credit goes to Zahariel.

Janus turning traitor is based on a few facts. First is that I don't know much about Janus, and thus I could make up what I wanted because of the fact that this is an AU. The second is that I wanted rituals that allows the traitors ty bypass the iron cages. This is inspired by prince of the eye by Zahariel, the main differences being that Janus makes them here instead of Magnus, and the rituals don't have to be preformed outside of the eye. His story and the cabal is based on Van Horstmann, a character from Warhammer fantasy, who was a traitor from the white order, who are basically the grey knights of fantasy, being anti daemon mages. Van Horstmann is a Tzeentch champion who leads a chaos organization known as the cabal. Thus I figured I'd make a second cabal. Buadros is a chaos dragon in Warhammer fantasy, but I made him a C'tan because, well why not? As for the three damnations of Janus, well in Warhammer fanfiction some traitors are called thrice damned, and I call Janus thrice damned, so why not make him earn the title.

The many daemons are born from the fifteenth ascended by Zahariel, where makes many Daemons from important events in human history. In the chapter Illuminations might he makes twelve daemons, and that is the main inspiration. Unlike in illuminations might, my daemons origins are described in their paragraphs. For those who didn't get them I will list the events/phenomena that created them below, as well as what chaos god they serve.

1\. Children being forced into mines, undivided

2\. The American civil war, Khorne

3\. Helen of troy, Slannesh

4\. Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire, undivided

5\. Plague doctor/ black plague, Nurgle

6\. Rwandan genocide, Tzeentch

7\. Concentration camps/Nazi aryan ideals, undivided. It will never be mentioned again and is dead because everyone hates Nazi's, even the dark gods.

8\. Typhoid Mary, Nurgle. If you didn't know that you didn't read her paragraph

9\. Saint valentine's day massacre/ bloodshed in the name of love, Khorne

10\. Nero playing the fiddle while Rome burned, Slannesh

11\. Kamikaze maneuvers/ suicide bombers in general, undivided.

12\. Fear of subliminal messages, Tzeentch

13\. Aztec sacrifices/ bloody religious sacrifices in general, Khorne

14\. Casanova, Slannesh

15\. Tower of babel, Tzeentch

16\. Lord of the flies from book of same name, Nurgle

Uriah is the last priest of terra, and during the unification wars he met the emperor in the guise of revelation, and the Emperor is basically an asshole during the story. He breaks the man's faith and everything he belied in, then had his church burned down despite Uriah being willing to serve him, and the last priest and last church burn together. I haven't read the story, but I think that's the jist of it. My Emperor is a lot nicer than the canon one, so I have my version of Uriah casting off the trappings of his faith (since I am a Christian myself, I will always have my head canon be that the Abrahamic religions devolve into the blood thirsty and hypocritical organizations they were during the dark ages and middle ages, and those might be the same thing but they might not) while keeping the essential virtues of the faith.

The custodes Amon going rogue and destroying an Australian village comes from renegades, where the emperor falls to chaos and is revealed to be Cain. The village got destroyed by custodes, but not Amon.

The aiders of the work and the grey squires are my own creations, as far as I know.

The Daemon form of Janus is based off of kaldor drako in lordlucans works "the shape of the nightmare to come" and "Age of Dusk"

The heldrake abomination being an attempt to resurrect a C'tan is not canon, as it is driven by a Daemonic presence in canon.

Now the Tau are considered the "good guys" of Warhammer 40k, but that isn't much considering the other factions are Catholic Space Nazis, the literal legions of hell, xenomorphs on steroids, fungal berserkers, space elves, space drow, and omnicidal skelabots with their enslaved and broken star gods. Compared to those, of course naive communist greys are the good guys.

The Tau being antagonistic in here is a choice, unlike my Khanite heresy Tau they aren't corrupted by a warp god (yet), but they aren't a part of the Imperium. This because they are naive and don't realize the unnatural is real. The Imperium is taking a general long view, hoping that the Tau will realize their follies and join up. As for that yet, well just look to the lord of order prophecy in the intro. This also helps explain why Tzeentch jumpstarted the Tau Ethereals and their ambition when the Tau didn't fight the Iron Warriors during the Age of Apostacy.

Since the beginning I had the Farsight Enclaves corrupted by chaos. They will get a more detailed explanation in chapter 11, the Covenant Reborn. But in general, I like the concept of Chaos corrupted Tau. In universe the reason why they aren't corrupted is because they have weak souls, but I think anything with a soul could theoretically be corrupted by Chaos. Only the Necrons and Tyranids are immune in my mind. I get some statements that Genestealer cults can be corrupted, but in my 8ed Genestealer codex there is something called a Broodmind that is basically the Tyranid hive mind in miniature, so I honestly don't know if they can be corrupted. In my fics, Genestealer cults can't be tainted.

On aliens in the Imperium, the Imperium is open minded. If an alien race is willing to join the Imperium, either wholeheartedly like the Squats or as a separate empire like the Eldar, then they are let in. If they don't want to join then they aren't forced but are warned that if they attack the Imperium or unleash the dangers that must be fought (what they call Chaos to those who don't already know of it) then the Imperium will act. Of course they hope the race joins and will keep in touch. That's the Tau's situation. Then there are those xenos with whom peace is impossible, the Xenos Horroificious. For the longest time, the only beings who fit this category where the Dark Eldar, the Orks and Chaos corrupted Xenos. This is because the Death Guard annihilated all others who might fit this category, but as the 41st millennium reaches its end the Necrons and Tyranids are added to this category. You won't see any alien Inquisitors for the same reason no Tech Priest becomes an Inquisitors. Namely there very soul is incompatible with the doctrines and callings of the Inquisition.

I don't know if the third black crusade happens before M33, but mine happens at the start of M34. Also, for each loyal legion there is gonna be a description of the doubters' stereotypes.

One final note before I cut off the rambling is that the warcrys are the same no matter what foe the loyal legions are facing in this heresy because I don't want to make more for them. That's the meta reason, the story reason is that it's a bigger insult than having made a special warcry when facing their hated rivals. The traitor legions will get hateful warcrys, however.

Alright, the next chapter will be the white scars.


End file.
